


Worthless

by NetRaptor



Series: NetRaptor's AU Sonicverse [25]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Depression, Gen, Heist, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 20:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 77,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10748832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NetRaptor/pseuds/NetRaptor
Summary: After the events of Mercury Inferno Rising, Shadow is still rebuilding Metal Sonic. Mecha's also broken, defeated, and suicidal. But when Shadow brings Mecha a chao who imprints on him, Mecha is given something to live for once more. At the same time, Knuckles needs Mecha's help to try to build a portal to Zephyer's world ... while Rouge the Bat and Nack the Weasel plot to steal the Master Emerald. This can only end badly ...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Foreword: This story takes place two months after Sonic Heroes. I advise you to read the story Mercury Inferno Rising, or this story won't make much sense. This story also reveals the ending of Mercury, so, again, read that first. Worthless is the sequel.

The ferry left port in Albecca and nosed out into the blue ocean, leaving a foamy trail across the water. The ship was thirty years past her prime, but the engines worked well enough, and the passengers were glad for the transportation. There were no other ships that ever travelled to Del Brynn, because technically Del Brynn did not exist.

Rouge the Bat was wearing sunglasses and a hat to protect her complexion from the fierce sun, but she had compromised with her outfit, which was skin-tight and low-cut. Aside from drawing stares from every male in a hundred feet, it was the most comfortable set of clothes she had for these climates.

She leaned on the railing at the bow and peered out at the horizon, her wings sweeping back and forth, fanning herself. Del Brynn was two hours out from Albecca, provided the weather was calm. She reached into a pocket on her blouse and pulled out a stack of photographs paperclipped together. She leafed through them for the hundredth time, eyes flicking over the images of the largest jewel on Mobius. She had had it in her possession twice; the first time, the owner stole it back. The second time she had suffered an attack of conscience and had returned the jewel to the owner herself. She might not have returned it had he not just saved her life, and was knockout handsome to boot.

Then she learned that he had gotten married at the beginning of the summer. There was no chance now of getting together with him, and Rouge's crush had turned to blackest hatred. She wanted to hurt him and his little wife in the worst way possible, and the worst thing she could think of doing was stealing the Master Emerald again. But this time she would take it straight to a jewel-cutter and sell the pieces within hours, scattering them across the world as quickly as possible. That ought to break the heart of any gem guardian.

At the bottom of the photo stack was a card with two names and a phone number scribbled on it, slipped to her by a shady character who acted as a contact hub for bounty hunters. He had assured her that the one she was after had several aliases, but there were two that he went by most often: Nack the Weasel, or Fang the Sniper, depending on the job.

Rouge lifted her head and scanned the horizon, although they were still far from Del Brynn. For this kind of jewel heist she needed a partner, and she had heard that Nack was the best in the business.

She retreated to the ferry's cabin to escape the sun, but it was even hotter indoors, for there was no breeze. The cabin contained eight other passengers, who like Rouge were wearing various types of headgear to mask their identities. All of them checked out Rouge as she entered, but no one spoke. She sat down in a vacant chair and studied them all from behind her dark glasses. There were two other bats with orange fur, a purple otter, a pelican with a wing in a sling, a kangaroo, two hyenas and a sleek black cat. All of them avoided her gaze, and the two bats nudged each other, smirking.

Rouge returned outside, and after some consideration, hung herself upsidedown from a ladder and took a nap.

She awoke to find the otter prodding her. "Wake up, girly," he said. "Del Brynn, the island that does not exist, is dead ahead."

Rouge shoved him away and flipped down to the deck. "Thanks," she said, ignoring his leer. She walked to the rail and looked.

Del Brynn was a desolate strip of sand and rocks with a few dishevelled palm trees growing here and there. There was a salt-stained dock at one end of the island, and a path led up to a corrugated tin shack among the palms. It was all that Del Brynn contained, and it was certainly nothing much to look at. But it was outside all government jurisdictions, and any amount of criminal activity could take place there.

Such as the hiring of bounty hunters.

The ferry nosed up beside the dock, where three smaller motorboats were moored. The crew secured the ferry and the passengers stepped down the gangplank to the dock. Heat beat upon them from the sand as they walked up toward the tin shack, which from this closer vantagepoint looked more like a storage warehouse. The front door was propped open with a rock, and they silently filed in.

It was as hot as a furnace inside, and there were a few flimsy tables and chairs set up here and there-things that could be packed up in a hurry if the need arose. There were five other shifty-looking Mobians seated around a table, and they looked up sharply as the newcomers entered. One of them arose and walked forward-a small bear with a very long snout.

"Clients, wait here," he said, pointing at a nearby table. "Providers, go over there until I've sorted the clients." The otter, pelican and cat stepped away, and Rouge studied them. So those were bounty hunters.

The bear handed each of them a sheet of paper. "Write a five-word job description and return this to me. No names."

Rouge took hers, wrote 'jewel heist' with her left hand to disguise her writing, and returned it to the bear. He took the papers from the other clients, then approached the three waiting bounty hunters. The four of them discussed the jobs in low voices, and Rouge felt sweat begin to trickle down her back. Perhaps she could jump in the ocean before the trip back to Albecca began.

The purple otter walked up, crooked a finger at her and led her outside. It was cooler there, but not much. Once they were out of earshot of the building, the otter said, "A jewel heist, eh?"

"I'm looking for Nack the Weasel," said Rouge frostily. "No one else will do. I came here to find him."

The otter looked her up and down. "I was going to decline this job, but since it's you ..." He reached up and pulled off his hat and nose.

His nose was a fur-covered mask that covered his weasel-snout, and his ears, under the hat, had been crimped in the middle with string to shorten them. His fur was soaked with sweat, and he fanned himself with his hat, grinning. Rouge noticed one of his fangs had been broken off, but the other was long and white. "What kind of jewel heist are we talking, here?"

Rouge pulled the photos from her pocket and handed them to him. Nack flipped through them, wearing his grin like a mask, but his eyes had become cool and calculating. As he looked through them a second time, he said, "What do you know about this jewel?"

"It's called the Master Emerald," said Rouge in a low voice, knowing that if she told him too much, he might go steal it himself. "I almost lifted it once already, but its guardian intercepted me."

Nack glanced at her. "So you know where it is?"

"Yes." Rouge smiled. "Ever hear of the Floating Island?"

Nack gazed at her for a long second, then his grin widened. "You're a brave one, chickie. That's a dangerous place to visit."

"Deal?" said Rouge.

Nack's grin vanished. "Not so fast. What about my fee? I have a fifty-percent claim on whatever profits we earn."

Rouge had anticipated this. She took one of the photos and pointed into its background. "The Master Emerald is ringed by seven slightly smaller stones called Super Emeralds. You can take as many as you can carry."

Nack's eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"

Rouge looked him in the eye, and Nack looked away. "The catch is that guardian who gave me so much trouble. He knows when something happens around his power gems, so we have to work fast. We'll have five to ten minutes to secure the packages and leave the area."

Nack's fang was showing under his upper lip. "What is he, a robot?"

"An echidna."

Nack smiled. "In that case, a bullet to the head ought to keep him out of our way."

"Whatever you say." Rouge's goal was to get Nack committed to the job-then she could worry about little details like murder. She held out a hand. "So, do we have a deal?"

Nack's smile became nasty, and he shook her hand. "Deal, Rouge the Bat." When she looked surprised, he said, "Only Rouge the Bat would dream up a heist this risky. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," she said, but inside she was thinking of ways to dump him halfway through the job. She disliked him and the constant sneery grin he wore. But for the time being, she needed him.

* * *

Shadow  
opened his eyes to pitch blackness. He lay on his cot, knowing   
instantly that Nox, his chao, was asleep beside his head, and that Metal  
Sonic was on the cot next to his own, his red eyes shedding a dim glow,  
staring at the ceiling. All was well; they had survived another night.

Shadow consulted the computer hardware plugged into his brain, and found it was 6:43 AM on September the 12th. Metal Sonic required refueling today before entering the regeneration chamber. Shadow had his master's refueling dates carefully scheduled, because Metal Sonic would not take care of himself. In fact, Metal Sonic would have liked nothing better than to let his sophisticated android body run down and 'die'.

Metal Sonic's voice came through the network hardware in Shadow's brain. "Awake, are you?"

"Yes," Shadow replied in the same way, without speaking aloud. "Did you rest?"

"I do not rest," replied Mecha with a touch of chill in his voice. "I lie here all night and think. Perhaps one morning I will kill you and escape that way."

"You haven't the strength and you know it," said Shadow quietly. He sat up and poked Nox, who blinked sleepily.

"Hi Shadow," he yawned. "Sleep good?"

"Key," whispered Shadow, holding out a hand. Nox had slept with a small key clenched in one paw. He handed it to Shadow and massaged the stiffness from his paw as Shadow took the key and unlocked the handcuffs binding him to Mecha. He hung them on their hook and kicked Mecha lightly in the side. "Get up."

Mecha rose from the cot and followed Shadow out of the room, head hanging and shoulders slumped. Shadow snapped on the overhead lights, which revealed the wreck Mecha had become. His body was oddly thin and transparent, especially his arms and legs, for his biometal skin was only partially rebuilt. His face had been rebuilt and his blinded eye could see again, but the most noticeable change was in his listless movements and posture. After his defeat at the hands of Sonic, and Mecha's resulting surrender, Mecha had lost the will to live. Having his body horrifically damaged did not help.

He considered his existence-he never applied the word 'life' to himself-at an end, and he was better off dead. Shadow had twice caught him trying to electrocute himself, and since then Shadow handcuffed them together at night. Mecha did not resist Shadow because there was nothing within him with the strength to resist. He simply didn't care anymore.

Shadow took him down a hallway and entered the supply room. This being one of Robotnik's old bases, it was a large room with many shelves and a walk-in freezer. But two androids consumed very little food, and the room was bare except for a few boxes and containers on the shelves nearest the door.

Shadow took down a container of thick yellow fluid like chicken broth, and carefully poured a small amount into a glass vial. Then he turned to Mecha. "If you would let me install that carbon-based energy system, refueling you would be much easier."

"There is no reason to upgrade this rotting body," said Metal Sonic, as Shadow ran his fingers over a spot just below Mecha's left ear. The biometal shimmered and opened to reveal a small hole. Shadow poured in the liquid as Mecha continued, "I do not need this constant refueling, either. The world would be a better place if I was removed from it. The quickest way to do that is to let the nanites in my brain starve and consume each other."

"No, Master," said Shadow, focused on what he was doing. "One defeat is not the end, and I won't let you give up. Besides, the upgrade would only take thirty hours to install."

"You would be rid of me for thirty hours, you mean," said Mecha peevishly, as Shadow removed the vial and closed the biometal over the fueling tube.

Shadow refilled the vial with the same liquid. "That is not true and you know it. If I had wanted you destroyed, I would have left you on the Annihilator."

"You should have," said Mecha, as Shadow opened another fueling tube on his chest. "Then you would be free to seek out a new Master, or join the hedgehog, or whatever. Perhaps I should have killed ..." He trailed off as Shadow looked at him. The hedgehog's black fur was still regrowing in patches from the injuries Mecha had given Shadow when Mecha had tried to kill him. It was one more reason Mecha wanted to kill himself now; every time he looked at Shadow, he was reminded of what a fool he had been, and the agony of his defeat returned full force.

He stood in silence as Shadow finished the fueling process, then followed Shadow next door to the regeneration chamber. Mecha had built it himself before his spirit had broken, and used it in his experiments on Shadow. These experiments had been successful, for Shadow was now half hedgehog and half robot, divided down the middle of his body. Mecha had never imagined that one day the tables would turn and he would be the one climbing into the machine. At least he wasn't using the suspension tank anymore. Mecha had long had a phobia of being submerged in water, and even though it was necessary to rebuild his face and insides, he had hated every second of it.

It took an hour to hook Mecha into the machine. Large rubber sleeves fit over Mecha's arms and legs, and a big helmet-like globe fit over his head. His body was covered in portions by overlapping rubber tubes, and Shadow tied everything down and made sure all the fittings were airtight. An organic being would have found this process terrifying, for it was now impossible to move, and it felt like being swallowed alive. But Mecha was used to the treatment and the following hours of boredom. He used the time to brood on his defeat and his own worthlessness.

Shadow stepped to the console and activated the program. The nanite chambers were still full. This machine was rebuilding Mecha's metal skin layer by layer. Each layer was slightly different, and there were sixteen of them. Today they would apply layer nine.

Shadow turned it all on and returned to his Master to check for leaks. Mecha's eyes were closed. Among his other extravagant upgrades, he had redesigned his face to allow for expressions. This made Mecha terrifying in battle, but heart-breaking in defeat, for Mecha had no idea how to keep his moods from appearing on his face. Shadow watched him with melancholy rising in him. Mecha was so sad and depressed, and Shadow didn't know how to help him pull out of it. Shadow's interaction with other people had been limited, and his memories of the ARK were hazy due to Mecha's work on him. He didn't know how to cheer someone up, and it seemed Mecha was only growing worse with each new batch of repairs.

There were no leaks, but Shadow remained beside the tube. "Master?" he asked over the network hesitantly.

Mecha's eyes snapped open. "That is the second time you have called me that," he snarled. "I am not your master anymore, Shadow. Do not call me that, ever."

"I can't help it," Shadow snarled back. "You programmed the three laws into me, and I can't change them. You will always be my Master."

"Yes." Mecha closed his eyes again, his flash of anger gone as if it had never been. "Do what you want, Mekion. I won't stop you."

Shadow flinched. Mekion was the name of his robot half, which at one time had been in control. He shuddered even to think of that period. "Shadow," he corrected. "I am Shadow now."

Mecha didn't answer.

Shadow felt a touch on his leg and looked down. His black chao stood there, looking up at Mecha. After a moment Shadow whispered in what remained of his voice, "How does he feel?"

"Sad," said Nox with a sigh. "The same as he's been since July. You're sad, too." Nox had the ability to feel the emotions in other people. He had been able to read Mecha from birth, which made Shadow wonder if Mecha was considered "alive" now.

Shadow picked up the chao and held him in the crook of one arm, and walked to the far end of the room where they could talk without disturbing Mecha. "I'm sad because he is. He just isn't getting better. I thought he would-it's been two and a half months."

"Have you thought about asking someone for help?" asked Nox.

Shadow shook his head. "Who is there to ask? Seeing Sonic again would kill him."

"What about Robotnik?"

Shadow gave a laugh like a cough. "After what Mecha did to him? Robotnik would pitch a grenade at him and run."

"Well then," said Nox, "who else knows about robots? How about Tails or Knuckles?"

Shadow looked at Mecha, who was completely relaxed and appeared asleep. "I have to try something. But news of this can't get out. I'll have to be very careful."

Nox nodded. Shadow's reluctance to seek outside help stemmed from a fear of Mecha's potentially most deadly enemy: Robo Knux. The other robot had been seen going about his business of terror once more, despite having been nearly destroyed that spring. He had always been Mecha's rival, and if he heard of Mecha's predicament he would pay them a visit. Besides being a negative influence on Mecha's mind, Robo Knux might decide to destroy him, and Shadow knew from experience that neither himself nor Mecha were strong or fast enough to beat Robo Knux in a fight.

Leaving Nox to keep an eye on Mecha, Shadow returned to his chamber, turning off the lights as he went. Not only did it conserve power, but he was most comfortable in pitch blackness. His organic and robotic eyes seeing like a cat's, he took a long-range communicator from a shelf, blew off the dust, and entered a frequency number he had stored in Mekion's databanks. He hesitated a second, then hit Send and waited for the red light to turn green.

* * *

"Hey  
Sonic!" Knuckles called, emerging from the trees that ringed the meadow  
called Chaotix Central. A blue hedgehog and an orange fox were seated   
on the grass, heads bent over a sparkling green gem. They looked up at   
their friend's call.

"What?" said Sonic, blinking. He had been tuned into the chaos emerald, trying to show Tails how it worked.

Knuckles was looking around as if searching for something. He walked up to them and said, "Either of you seen Zephyer today?"

"She went on a hike this morning," said Tails. "She said she'd be back this afternoon."

"Oh." The red echidna looked relieved. He flipped a dreadlock out of his face and looked at the jewel in Tails's hands. "Any progress?"

"It's no good," said the fox, his two tails twitching fretfully. "I can't feel anything in it. Sonic zones out the second he looks at it."

"I'm getting good at this," said Sonic smugly. "I'll learn a new power and be one up on Shadow."

Knuckles ignored him and took the emerald, turning it over. It was common knowledge that Tails could not use the Chaos Emeralds. The Super Emeralds, however, posed no problem at all. Tails wanted some training in using power gems and had come to Knuckles, but so far Knuckles had made little headway with him. Although Tails had a strong chaos field, he couldn't interact with Chaos Emeralds at all.

"Get lost a minute, Sonic," said Knuckles. "I think you're distracting Tails."

Sonic stood up with a snort. "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." He darted up the lawn toward Knuckles's house. The Floating Island seemed even emptier than usual with the Chaotix gone. But they were running an extremely successful detective agency in Rio del Fuego, and only visited the island once or twice a month, if that. Sonic had no one else to harass when Knuckles was busy with Tails.

Knuckles turned the emerald on its side. "Try looking through this facet, Tails. It might be easier."

Tails took the emerald and bent over it, trying to see or feel something. Sonic described it as sinking, and Sally described it as a vibration, but for Tails there was nothing. He felt a breeze ruffle his fur and was aware of Knuckles standing over him, watching. Tails found himself thinking about building a machine that could read Chaos Emeralds. That would be easier than sitting here looking at a glowing jewel and feeling stupid.

He straightened and looked at Knuckles. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing. Nothing happens. Maybe I need a different color."

Knuckles took the emerald again. "But this is the ruling green! It should work for anyone! I don't get it."

"Could I try a Super Emerald instead?" asked Tails, climbing to his feet and brushing grass from his backside. "Maybe I could practice on one and try a chaos emerald again later."

Knuckles shook his head. "The supers work on entirely different principles. Playing with one of those wouldn't teach you anything."

Tails's ears flattened. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. I'll just stick with the Cyclone."

"You wanted chaos training, I'll give you chaos training," growled Knuckles. "I just have to think of something else."

They heard the back door slam, and Sonic raced out to them in a rush of air. He had Knuckles's communicator in one hand. "Hey Knux, you have a call!" He thrust the com into Knuckles's hand.

"Probably the Chaotix," muttered Knuckles. "Or maybe Sally." He grinned at Sonic, who flushed, and Tails grinned, too. Knuckles flipped on the com and said, "Hello, Knuckles here."

The voice that answered wiped the smile from every face. "Knuckles? This is Shadow. I need your help." His whisper was hard to understand through the speaker, but it was undeniably Shadow.

Knuckles exchanged a wide-eyed look with Tails and Sonic, whose mouths had fallen open. "Um, my help? With what?"

"I can't talk over the open frequency," whispered Shadow, sounding nervous. "Could we meet in person? In about ten minutes?"

Knuckles exchanged another shocked look with his friends. "Sure ... do you know where Chaotix Central is? On the Floating Island?"

"Yes. Goodbye." Shadow disconnected.

"What in the heck?" said Sonic slowly, as they all stared at the com in amazement.

"Two months of silence, and now this," said Knuckles, shaking his head. "I wonder how he got my frequency?"

"What could Shadow need help with that he can't talk about on an open frequency?" asked Tails. "Mecha?"

"That's probably it," said Sonic. "He doesn't want anyone tracking him down. Good thing you can't trace Chaos Control."

"But ... my help?" said Knuckles. "Unless he needs some programming done, I can't do anything for him or Mecha. And I've never touched nanite programming."

Sonic turned and walked a short distance away, where he stood looking at the trees with his hands behind his back. Tails watched him and said to Knuckles, "I'm pretty good with machines, but Mecha is an android now, right?"

"I don't know what he is," muttered Knuckles, also watching Sonic.

After a moment Sonic turned back to face them, looking sober. "It's my fault," he said quietly. "I'm the one who trashed Mecha like that. Now it's hurt Shadow."

"You don't know that," said Knuckles. "Shadow could have any number of reasons for wanting to see me."

They were interrupted by a flash of light and a surge of chaos energy, and a black hedgehog appeared at the far end of the meadow. They heard him hiss and shield his eyes from the daylight. It seemed Shadow had forgotten that small detail about the outdoors. After a few minutes he lowered his arms and squinted around at them, then strode up to them, looking with surprise at Tails and Sonic. He shook Tails and Knuckles's hands in greeting, but made no move to greet Sonic. "Thank you for letting me come," he whispered. "I'm not sure if you can help me, but maybe you'll know someone who can."

"What's the problem?" asked Knuckles.

Shadow looked down. "It's Mecha. He's ... sick in his mind. I don't know what to do-he's not recovering like I thought he would."

Sonic lowered his head, ears flattening, but said nothing.

"What do you mean?" asked Tails. "How can a robot be sick in its mind?"

Shadow gave him a patronizing look. "Mecha is a highly sophisticated android, not a mere robot. His mind works like a Mobian's." Shadow looked at Knuckles again. "He's depressed because of his defeat. And he's getting worse."

"Would it help if I apologized?" said Sonic.

Shadow glanced at him, and his teeth clenched for a second. Here stood the person responsible for his Master's condition, and it took strong self-control to keep from savaging him. "No," said Shadow shortly. "Seeing you would be the worst possible thing for Mecha right now."

"At least tell him that I apologize," said Sonic. "I guess I ... I went overboard there at the end."

"I'll pass on your message," said Shadow through his teeth. He looked back at Knuckles. "Can you help?"

"I'm not sure," said the echidna. "I helped build Mecha, but he's been upgraded so much since then ..."

Shadow stared. "You ...? But I thought Dr. Robotnik ...?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I used to work for Doc. He taught me all about computers and robots, and I ate it up. I helped him build Mecha, but Mecha was much simpler then. He probably doesn't even remember now."

There was a moment of silence. Shadow pointedly ignored Sonic, who looked as if he wanted to sink into the ground. Knuckles was doing some quick thinking, trying to remember everything he could about building Mecha, who at the time was no more than a jet engine with limbs and a head. Tails was hoping he could go see Mecha, because apart from learning how he worked, Tails could escape his frustrating chaos training for a while.

"Look," whispered Shadow, breaking the silence, "could you come and talk to him? You would only be gone an hour."

Knuckles sighed. "All right, all right."

"Can I come?" asked Tails. "I know a lot about machines and stuff."

Shadow glanced at the fox. "Fine."

"Can I come, too?" asked Sonic.

Shadow didn't even look at him. "Don't you think you've done enough, Sonic?" And without another word, Shadow held up his orange chaos emerald, which he held in his robot hand, touched Tails and Knuckles and teleported in a flash of light.

Sonic stood looking at the place where they had been, feeling guilt and remorse welling up inside of him. Shadow hated him again, all because of Mecha.

"I'm not sorry I beat him!" Sonic yelled in sudden anger. "He would have destroyed the human colonies!" He lowered his voice and muttered, "But I am sorry I made him suffer. I thought he was just a robot. I didn't know he could feel pain."

Sonic walked up to Knuckles's house, feeling left out and disliked. The house was empty and quiet. He entered the kitchen, decided he wasn't hungry, then spied some paper on the counter. He picked up a sheet and looked at it, thinking. Then he grabbed a pencil from a nearby stack and began to write. "Dear Mecha ..."


	2. Chapter 2

Zephyer stopped for breath and looked back. She had climbed two thousand feet into the mountains in the Floating Island's interior, and the lowlands spread below her in shades of blue and green. She had been exploring the mountains on day hikes, and was thinking of asking Knuckles to take her on a week-long trip through the higher passes. Even he didn't know them very well, and there were ruins hidden everywhere; in little valleys   
and dells, eroded and withered from centuries of weather.

It seemed the echidna folk had loved the mountains even more than their lowland cities, and Zephyer was intrigued by it. The ancient echidnas had been much more skilled in stonecraft than her own people, but then they had the luxury of civilization. Zephyer's people lived on a desert planet where daily survival was a struggle.

Today Zephyer was climbing up the backside of the nearest ridge, following the edge of a deep gully. She wished Knuckles was with her, but he was busy with Sonic and Tails, and would be for another week. Talon and the two chao had gone to Sapphire City to visit the chao gardens with the other chao owners. Only Sonic and Tails had remained behind. Zephyer was free to wander where she liked, and she had opted for exploring her new home.

She had recovered her breath and now walked on, carrying only a backpack with lunch in it, and a walking stick in one hand. This came in handy for climbing over rocky terrain, and poking through piles of stonemasonry. As she walked she examined the vegetation, which was turning brown under the hot sun. They needed the rainy season ... it was nearly time to take the island south for the winter.

Down below her, the gully turned and ran into the mountainside like a railway tunnel, the arch formed by ancient blocks of stone. Zephyer studied it with interest. Here was something new! The island was riddled with underground passages, and all of them led somewhere interesting. She began to climb down into the gully, thankful that the bank was not so steep here. At the bottom was a streambed, dry at this time of year, and she followed it up into the tunnel.

Twenty feet down the tunnel, just as it became too dark to see, a vein of glowing blue crystal emerged on the ceiling and wall. Zephyer followed it, a sense of excitement growing in her. Lighted tunnels always led somewhere interesting! The crystal vein itself emitted light, but no energy; it occurred naturally all over the Floating Island and came in handy in the caves.

Zephyer rounded a bend and stopped. Part of the tunnel had collapsed, filling it with a mound of rubble and chunks of blue crystal, still glowing. She could go no further. As she stood there, wishing Knuckles was here so he could clear the passage, she became aware of a low hum, like machinery running far off. But wait ... the only machinery underground were air pumps in Lava Reef, thousands of feet below her. She cocked her head, trying to discover the source of the sound. It was coming from her left, through the wall.

She stepped to the wall and ran her hands over the stone. There was a gap here, as if the collapsing tunnel had broken open an adjoining passage. And-yes-it was large enough to squeeze through. Zephyer crawled through on her hands and knees, and found herself in darkness. No crystal vein here. The hum was louder, and there was a musical tone to it now. She must be close. She inched forward, straining her eyes and thinking of bringing a chunk of the glowing blue crystal-

The floor gave way! With a shriek and a crash of breaking rock, Zephyer fell forward into darkness and dust. She plunged down twenty feet and landed on a rock floor, winding herself, and trying to shield her head from falling debris. Rocks and gravel rained down on her, leaving bruises and cuts, but it tapered off, leaving a cloud of dust like fog that blinded Zephyer and coated her throat and tongue. But there was light here, and the musical hum was very loud. She uncurled and looked away, fanning away the dust.

She had fallen into a sealed chamber. There were doors at either end, bricked up and filled with mortar. The ceiling now had a great hole in it, and Zephyer thought she could climb out again once the dust settled. What captured her attention was the orange glow coming from the opposite wall. At first she thought it was a fire, then she realized it was an exposed orange crystal vein, five or six feet wide. But as the dust cleared, Zephyer found herself staring. "Balls," she said. "Crystal balls. But how?"

She got up and walked to them. The vein, instead of being composed of hexagons or octagons, as all other crystals were, had taken on spherical shapes. Some were lumped together like melted marbles, but others were almost perfect spheres, joined to the rock at the base. They were each a foot across, the size of a bowling ball. They emitted the humming sound, and each sphere had a steady amber glow in its center.

The longer she stood there, the more Zephyer wanted to touch them. She knew, as co-guardian, that touching strange crystals was a bad idea, but that hum they made, and their smooth, unnaturally polished surfaces drew her. How could they possibly be natural? Who had left them here and sealed the doors? They must be dangerous ... or a fantastic treasure.

Their music was boaring into her head, making her sleepy and addling her judgement. Zephyer swayed on her feet, enthralled. The nearest sphere looked so smooth-did they vibrate to hum like that? What would it hurt to touch them? She had handled the Master Emerald almost nonstop since marrying Knuckles. She extended a hand, but drew back. She shouldn't touch something that looked so weird. But that hum was drawing her in, dulling her thoughts, hypnotizing her. She reached out and touched a sphere with her bare hand.

The pitch of the hum changed. The sphere was cool and smooth under her fingers, and vibrating a little. Its tone changed as she drew her hand across it. She laid a hand on another sphere and the music altered again, a new harmony filling the room. She stroked them both, changing the notes and pitch, her consciousness seeping away under their influence. She forgot who she was or where she was; she forgot everything as the hypnotic power took ahold of her, and she slipped into a blissful trance as the music went on and on and on and on ...

* * *

Knuckles, Shadow and Tails   
teleported into the pitch blackness of Mecha's underground base. "Whoa,   
where's the lights?" asked Tails, putting out a hand and feeling the   
wall.

"I apologize," rasped Shadow's whisper to his right. "We do not use lights here-it saves power." There was the click of a bolt, and a door opened in front of them, a greenish light pouring into the corridor. Shadow held the door open and waved them inside, and the two guests obeyed, staring.

The only light in the room came from an enormous robotic construction chamber. Green and blue lights lined the inside and ringed the base, showing that a project was under way. Inside the chamber was an orderly mass of hoses and tubes. As they moved closer, Knuckles and Tails realized that Metal Sonic was at the center of the tangle, covered from head to toe in hoses, only his face visible among them, eyes closed. There was the throb of a pump through the rear wall.

"What is this stuff?" asked Knuckles.

"This is a construction chamber," whispered Shadow, gazing at Mecha with a hopeless expression. "It was modified to use biometal nanites." He stepped up to the chamber and added, "Master, we have visitors."

Mecha's eyes opened, and for an instant Knuckles could have sworn Mecha was afraid. Then he recognized them and relaxed. "What are you doing here?" he growled. "Shadow, can't you leave well enough alone?"

"We've come to help you," said Tails, his eyes sweeping the chamber and the way Mecha was hooked into it. "If you'll let us."

"There is nothing you can do for me," said Mecha, his eyes roving back and forth between Knuckles and Tails. "Except persuade Shadow to let me die."

"He's done a lot of work to keep you alive," said Knuckles, impressed that Shadow had done so much by himself. "I'd be proud of him."

"Perhaps, if his work was not a waste of time from the beginning," said Mecha, eyes narrowing. "My body can be rebuilt, but for what? To suffer another defeat, and another, and another? My existence has been an exercise in futility. Do you remember one time where I triumphed over one of you, or the hedgehog?"

Tails looked at Knuckles, who motioned for him to keep quiet. Mecha's keen yet twisted logic was difficult to argue against. It would be easy to push him deeper into his depression by affirming his points, even though they were true.

Knuckles tried changing the subject. "Sonic apologizes for thrashing you so badly."

A spasm of pain crossed Mecha's face, and Knuckles and Tails jumped-it was freaky to see Mecha with facial expressions. "Why should he be sorry?" Mecha hissed. "He has inflicted far more damage upon me in the past. The difference is that this time I felt pain. Perhaps if I had felt pain before, I would have abandoned my futile existence when I realized I could not win."

"I didn't think you were useless when I helped build you," said Knuckles, folding his arms. "Do you remember that?"

"You helped construct my old body design, and brain chips," said Mecha, red eyes glittering. "All of which have been replaced. You never had a hand in my further construction, echidna, and I am glad. I would have been more pathetic than I am now."

Knuckles clenched his fists and willed himself to stay calm.

Tails took over. "So are you all-nanite, now?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter," said Mecha. "I am defeated."

Tails ignored the final statement. "Is your chassis nanite-based, too? Because the acid didn't eat it."

"The acid did not reach it," said Mecha. "My chassis cannot liquify completely or my internal workings would be destroyed. My hull liquifies around it. My hull and the biofibers and ligaments beneath it are what the acid ate. It is the equivalent to someone stripping off your skin and muscles while you are still alive."

Tails blinked and looked at Knuckles for reassurance. "Not sure I wanted to know that."

"You asked," said Mecha, his mouth twisting into a bitter smile. "Is there anything else you wanted to argue about? I am enjoying watching someone else realize the futility of their own arguments. You dare not agree with me, even though I am correct. Perhaps you should leave before I persuade you that your lives are meaningless, as well."

A black chao stepped into the glow from the machine and looked up at Tails and Knuckles. "There's no use arguing with him anymore," he told them. "He's in one of his moods." The chao waved a paw at Mecha. "Go to sleep, meanie. They were only trying to help."

Mecha didn't answer. He was looking at Shadow, who was standing back in the darkness. After a moment Shadow hunched his shoulders and turned away-they were communicating over their wireless network. "Come on," he whispered to Knuckles and Tails. "I'll take you back."

As they stepped out into the hall, Tails whispered, "Is Nox always that stern with Mecha?"

"Always," whispered Shadow, fingering the orange emerald.

"You ought to get Mecha a chao of his own," said Knuckles. "It'd give him something to worry about, and look how good Nox was for you."

Shadow shook his head. "Mecha cares about nothing. If a chao was placed in his care, he would neglect it until it died. I don't dare risk it."

"You didn't neglect Nox," said Tails.

"No," Shadow whispered so softly they could hardly hear him. "I abused him."

They teleported back to Chaotix Central, and all three were blinded by the sunlight, which seemed stunningly bright after the blackness of the hideout. As they stood there blinking, Sonic ran up. "There you are! I thought you'd never get back! Shadow, can you give this to Mecha?"

Shadow squinted as Sonic handed him a sheet of folded paper. "Maybe. Goodbye."

He vanished in a flash of light, leaving Knuckles and Tails looking disoriented. "Well?" Sonic asked, nearly bursting with curiosity. "What happened? What's Mecha like?"

Tails and Knuckles exchanged glances. "Well, he's ..." Tails began. "He's ... angry."

"Sick in the head is right," said Knuckles. "The guy needs professional help, or maybe a fist to the jaw, I can't tell which."

Sonic looked pained. "So I couldn't have gone?"

"No," said Tails. "Mecha was already spitting venom-if he saw you, who knows what he would have done."

"Nothing," said Knuckles. "He was plugged into that machine. All he could do was talk." Knuckles shook his head. "I'm going for a walk." He strode across the meadow and vanished into the trees.

Tails looked at Sonic. "Let's go inside for a while."

"Okay," said Sonic, and the two walked up to the house. They entered, and Tails sat down on the ragged sofa that Zephyer had not yet managed to replace. He put his head in his hands, and Sonic was instantly concerned. "What's the matter? Did Mecha hurt you?"

"No," murmured Tails. "I've just never seen anything like that. He was so angry and bitter, and Shadow's done so much for him, and Nox even tries to help ..."

"So what'd Mecha say, exactly?" asked Sonic.

Tails leaned back against the cushions and recounted the whole conversation, describing the base and the eerie darkness. It was beyond Tails's experience, and he didn't know how to go about fixing a broken mind-machines were his speciality. All he knew was that Mecha's cruelty had been magnified by his defeat, and yet Tails wanted to pity him, entangled in those hoses as he was.

Sonic shook his head. "This is Mecha we're talking about. Doesn't sound like getting beaten was the best thing for him. His personality sure hasn't changed."

"No, it hasn't," murmured Tails. "He scares me. But I'd still like to help him if I could."

Sonic nodded. "Likewise." He laughed a little. "This is a twist, isn't it? Here Mecha's been trying to kill us all our lives, and for some reason we want to help him get well."

"It's the right thing to do," said Tails. "That's why. And if we can't help him, we can help Shadow." Tails looked at Sonic and cocked his head. "Was that a letter you gave him?"

"Yeah." Sonic folded his hands and looked down at them. "I wrote an apology for Mecha. If I can't say it in person, it's the next best thing."

"If Shadow gives it to him at all."

"Yeah. He wasn't real friendly, was he?"

Tails shrugged. "You're the one who smashed up Mecha. It'd be like if somebody wrecked the Cyclone, then waltzed in after I'd spent all summer repairing it." As soon as the words left his mouth, Tails realized he shouldn't have said them.

Sonic's ears flattened and his spines drooped. "I know," he said softly. "I've only felt guilty about it all summer, too. But then-should I feel guilty? He was attacking the colonies without warning!"

"He deserved it," said Tails, clenching his fists. "That was just evil." Then he opened his fists and looked at them. "But ... what do we do now?"

Sonic checked his watch. "I could call Slasher and see what she thinks."

Tails shrugged. "Might be nice to have an unbiased opinion."

Sonic rose and went to find Knuckles's communicator, and Tails lay back against the cushions. When he closed his eyes he could see the turquoise glow of that chamber, and the red points of light that were Mecha's eyes, so malevolent and hopeless ...

Sonic walked back into the room with the com, speaking into it. "...and they just got back from visiting Mecha. Here's Tails, he'll tell you what happened."

Sonic handed Tails the com. "Slasher?"

"Yes," came the voice of the velociraptor on the other end. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

Tails drew a breath and plunged through the story again, wishing Slasher was here in person. Despite her size and reptilian looks, she had been a surrogate mother to the Freedom Fighters, and they all respected her wisdom.

She was silent a moment after Tails had finished.

"What do we do?" he asked her. "Is it right for us to want to help Mecha, after all he did?"

"Well," said Slasher, "what comes to mind is a passage from a book from the human colonies. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink ... you will heap coals of fire upon his head."

"What the heck does that mean?" said Sonic. "The coals of fire thing?"

They could hear the smile in Slasher's voice. "It's a figure of speech. It means it'll make him sorry he mistreated you, if you show him kindness. Really, really sorry."

Sonic and Tails exchanged a significant glance. "So it's okay to help Mecha?" said Tails.

"Definitely," said Slasher. "Oh yes, tell Knuckles and Zephyer that Talon says hi."

"Okay," said Tails handing the com back to Sonic.

Sonic said goodbye and disconnected. "That answers that question," he said as he went to put it away. "Good ol' Slasher! I won't feel bad about helping Mecha now. I'm heaping coals of fire upon his head!" He threw his head back and laughed his best evil laugh, and Tails joined in. The new perspective made that morning's interview much easier to bear.

* * *

Shadow  
sat in his quarters, reading Sonic's letter by the glow from his robot   
eye. He wanted to tear up the paper, but part of him wanted Metal Sonic   
to read it. Of course, Mecha would shred the letter himself, but it   
might help to know his enemy had tried to make amends.

The black hedgehog heaved a sigh. He had began as Mecha's slave, but over the eight months of his existence as Mekion, his obedience had grown into a kind of fanatical adoration of Metal Sonic. During Shadow's service, Shadow had glimpsed an emerging side of Mecha; a capacity for feeling and kindness. Shadow lived for the rare occasions when Mecha showed this kindness to him, and was able to tolerate Mecha's other moods and usual surliness. He hoped that one day the buried kindness would win out, but in the meantime, Mecha had a long way to go.

Shadow rose and walked to the construction room to check on his master. Mecha was dozing in the chamber, and Nox was sitting on the floor, watching him. Nox looked up as Shadow entered. "That visit wore him out," the chao reported.

Mecha's eyes opened. "It did not," he growled. "Why did you bring those idiots here, anyway?"

Shadow shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.

Mecha's eyes narrowed, and over the network he said, "Second law, Shadow. You must obey me, and I order you to tell me why you brought Knuckles and Miles here."

Shadow ground his teeth and replied aloud, "I hoped they might help your mind recover."

"There is nothing wrong with my mind," snapped Mecha.

Shadow's spines bristled. "Yes there is. You want to die, and no living creature in its right mind wants to die."

"I am not a living creature," Mecha shot back.

"Don't change the subject," hissed Shadow, mentally cursing his whispering voice for the thousandth time. "You are ill, and I am seeking ways to help you recover."

"That is noble of you," said Mecha ironically. "It is a pity to see such a noble effort wasted on the broken wreck of an assassin robot. I recommend doing something constructive with your energy. Such as jumping off a cliff."

Shadow turned away, head lowered. He motioned to Nox, who followed him out of the room, leaving Mecha to brood.

Once they were out of earshot, Shadow picked up his chao and whispered, "Knuckles suggested giving Master a chao. What do you think of that idea?"

Nox looked thoughtful. "Give him a chao? Hmm. If it imprinted on him when it hatched, it might work."

"You don't think he would mistreat a chao?"

"No," said Nox. "You know there's a grain of kindness in him, and I feel it in him all the time. But he's injured in a way machines can't touch, and he doesn't know how to handle it except by hurting everyone around him. I've studied him. I know."

Shadow nodded, feeling his spirits lift a little. Mecha was injured, and wasn't really responsible for what he was saying. He ran his organic hand over Nox's soft head. "Where could I find a chao egg?"

Nox gave him a humorous look. "Are you going to steal an egg the way you stole me?"

"I didn't steal you," said Shadow. "You begged to come with me, and I let you against my better judgement."

"You didn't answer my question," said Nox, grinning.

"And you didn't answer mine," retorted Shadow.

Nox shrugged. "There's the Chao Company in Sapphire City, but they guard their chao. Hey, do you think you could spot some with Chaos Sight?"

Shadow froze. "No," he whispered. "I won't use Chaos Sight. Not after the things I saw last time."

Nox shrugged, feeling Shadow's terror and trying to shake it off. "It was just a suggestion."

Shadow was silent, thinking of the pros and cons of using Chaos Sight again. Despite being unpleasant and frightening, it would show him a location he could teleport to, grab a chao egg and warp back. He could potentially have a chao egg by the end of the day. That was assuming that giving Mecha a chao was a good idea in the first place.

He carried Nox to his quarters and took the orange chaos emerald from its shelf. Nox beamed. "You always say no first and yes afterwards."

Shadow grunted and sat down with the gem in his hands. "Nox, let me See for one minute, then break my eye contact."

"Right," said Nox.

Shadow drew a breath like a diver about to plunge into deep water, and looked into the emerald's widest facet.

The orange Chaos Emerald's innate power was perception, called "Chaos Sight" by those who used it. It poured a flood of vivid random images into Shadow's mind; past, present, future, like a jumble of photographs. It held him rigid, unblinking, unable to look away.

Nox counted sixty seconds, then yanked the emerald out of Shadow's hands. Shadow shuddered and shook his head, breathing heavily.

"See any?" Nox asked.

"No," Shadow whispered. "Another minute." He took the gem again and repeated the process.

Ten minutes passed. Nox grew agitated as Shadow became more unglued every time he looked into the emerald. Sweating and shaking, Shadow forced himself to look over and over, facing the images of death, destruction and distress.

The final time Nox took the emerald away, Shadow gave a terrible whispering scream and spindashed across the room, striking the wall and knocking a dent in it. Nox dove under the bed and hid until Shadow's sanity returned, and the hedgehog whistled softly for his chao.

"I'm sorry," Shadow whispered, picking up Nox as Nox emerged. "I hate this emerald." He collapsed on his cot and closed his eyes.

"Did you see chao?" asked Nox.

"Yes," whispered Shadow without moving. "There was a room with ten eggs in an incubator full of straw. There was a chao watching over them."

Neither of them spoke the conclusion aloud; Shadow was going to teleport there as soon as he had recovered.

"Shadow," murmured Nox, "isn't it nearly time to take Mecha out of the machine?"

Shadow's eyes opened as he consulted his internal clock. "Yes. Should I retrieve the egg now or later?"

"Now," said Nox. "So Mecha can't hurt himself if you don't get back right away."

Shadow stroked Nox once and stood up. "Here it goes." He picked up the orange emerald, looked into once of the narrow facets on the side, and whispered, "Chaos relocate." He vanished in a flash of light.

Nox sat on the cot and waited. One minute passed, then two, then five. How far had Shadow teleported? What if the chao eggs were more heavily guarded than he had seen? What if he never came back?

Nox battled his worry and waited. Shadow was resourceful. He would come back.

Ten minutes later Shadow reappeared in a flash of chaos energy, a football-sized egg in his arms. "Nox ... too far," he whispered. He dropped the egg on the cot and his eyes rolled back in his head. He collapsed to the floor, striking his chin on the edge of the cot as he went.

Nox jumped to the floor and examined his master for injuries, but Shadow was unhurt. Nox took the emerald from his hand and looked at it. He had wondered how far one could teleport without burning out, and it appeared that Shadow had hit his limit.

Leaving Shadow fast asleep on the floor, Nox scrambled up on the bed and looked at the egg. It was a dirty gray and warm to the touch. Nox laid an ear against the shell and heard a soft purring coming from within. It was about to hatch.

Nox jumped down to Shadow and shook him. "Shadow, go undo Mecha! The egg's about to hatch!"

"Huh?" Shadow lifted his head. "What? Oh, right." Rubbing his chin and wincing, Shadow struggled to his feet and staggered out of the room. Nox picked up the egg, which was nearly as big as he was, and lugged it after Shadow.

* * *

Mecha was absorbed in   
his own dark thoughts when Shadow entered the room, turned off the   
machine and began unhooking the tubes. Mecha hated the process, for when  
his new layer of biometal was exposed to the air it stung like ice, as   
his new nerve endings reacted. After a few hours the metal hardened and   
the stinging faded, but it was unpleasant while it lasted.

Mecha winced as a hose was unstrapped and the air touched his skin. Shadow's movements were slow and clumsy, and Shadow kept shaking his head as if a fly was bothering him. Mecha was resentful of Shadow's attempts to help him, and said nothing as Shadow worked.

As Shadow lifted the dome off Mecha's head, Shadow stumbled and caught himself on one of the restraining bars. He clung there a moment, then dropped to the bottom of the chamber and lay still. Mecha looked down at him in surprise. "Shadow, what are you doing?"

Shadow didn't respond.

Mecha wished his limbs were free, but his arms and legs were still hooked into the machine.

Nox trotted into the room, half-hidden behind a round object in his paws. He carried it to the foot of the chamber, then noticed Shadow. "Oh no!" he cried, setting down his burden. "Did he faint again?"

"I don't know," said Mecha. "He was fine twenty minutes ago. He appears exhausted, if that is possible."

"He jumped too far," said Nox, climbing into the chamber and prodding the black hedgehog. Shadow still didn't respond. "I've got to let you out," muttered Nox, looking up at Mecha. He jumped at the hose connected to Mecha's right arm and swarmed up it like a cat. He arrived at the top and began unscrewing the airtight clamp that encircled Mecha's shoulder.

"Why hurry?" said Mecha, watching the chao work. "Unless there is something seriously wrong with Shadow, there is no reason to rush. The machine poses no threat to me."

"The egg's gonna hatch," panted Nox, wrestling the hose free and sliding it down Mecha's arm, trailing a clear nanite slime.

Mecha lifted his arm and flexed it. "What egg?" he asked without interest.

"Undo your other arm and I'll get your legs," said Nox.

Mecha didn't care one way or the other, but it was amusing to see the little chao wrestling with the heavy rubber tubes, so he unfastened the hose around his left arm.

As he flexed his left hand, examining the new coating of silver metal on his fingers, Nox darted to the floor, hefted the egg and lugged it to Mecha. "Hold this while I unhook your other leg."

Mecha took the egg, his super-sensitive nerve endings registering the slight pebbly texture of its surface, and its warmth.

Then he realized what was happening. His eyes darted to the unconscious Shadow, then to Nox, wrestling with a tough wingnut. This was a chao egg. He had thought he had felt a burst of chaos energy a few minutes ago. Shadow had teleported and overtaxed himself. They thought they were so clever, setting him up with a chao! His first impulse was to hurl the egg across the room. But something else stopped him ... curiosity. He had studied chao before, but had never seen one hatch. He felt the egg vibrate slightly as its occupant moved, and he heard a faint purr from inside it.

He checked to make sure Shadow was still unconscious, and Nox was busy unfastening restraints. Showing interest in this egg was horrid enough without someone watching. For it HAD caught his interest, such as nothing else had in over two months, and he hated himself for it. But no amount of self-loathing could make him drop that egg until he had seen what was inside of it.

The top of the shell cracked, and the purring grew louder. Mecha held the egg so close to his eyes that his nose-spike touched the shell, as he peered through the cracks. They widened, the top portion of shell flipped off, and Mecha looked into the round, innocent eyes of a muddy gray chao. It blinked in the glow from his eyes, but did not seem afraid.

Mecha tossed another furtive glance at Shadow and Nox. Shadow had not moved, and Nox nearly had Mecha's right leg free. No one but Mecha had observed the new chao hatching. It was struggling out of the shell now, and Mecha caught it in one hand before it could fall. It was so small that it fit in the palm of his hand, and his super-sensitive nerve endings felt every detail of its damp, warm fur and soft, pudgy body. He could kill by curling his fingers into a fist, and this made him all the more conscious that gentleness was necessary. It continued to look at him without fear, and it gave Mecha a strange feeling. No one ever looked at him with such frank appraisal. Shadow looked at him like a slave to a master, and Sonic looked at Mecha as an enemy. But this chao was completely unbiased. It had no opinion of him, no way to judge him. It didn't know his reputation or view him as an obsolete pile of scraps, defeated for the last time by his arch-nemesis. It just looked at him with innocent curiosity.

It shivered, and Mecha realized the room was cool in comparison to the warmth of its egg. He looked down at Nox and realized that both his legs were free, and Nox was looking up at him. Mecha was instantly embarrassed, and angry at Nox for making him feel embarrassed.

"It's cold," said Nox. "And probably hungry."

"Yes," said Mecha, moving to set the baby chao on the floor. "Therefore you must remedy those conditions."

"Not me," said Nox, backing away. "It's imprinted on you. You have to take care of it."

"I will do no such thing," Mecha began, but Nox whirled and scampered from the room.

Mecha hesitated and looked at the chao in his claws. All the heaters in the base had been shut down to keep from putting out any kind of signature for potential trackers, and he wasn't certain where the blankets were after Shadow had been in charge for two months. How, then, to contribute extra warmth to this tiny shivering creature? Mecha's own internal temperature remained at 72 degrees, except when using his jet, which raised his temperature as his circulatory system acted as coolant. Although his power core remained at a little over 90 degrees. He had forgotten about that. With another furtive look at the unconscious Shadow, he held the chao against his chest. It sensed the warmth and snuggled up against him at once, and Mecha winced at its touch-some parts of his metal skin had more nerve endings than others.

He stepped out of the tube and walked out in the hall, wanting some privacy. He wanted to stroke his chao and think of a proper name for it, and he didn't want Nox or Shadow to see him displaying such disgusting weakness, especially after two months of what he thought was iron resistance. Besides, a chao imprinted on him could be turned into a lethal weapon once it was grown. He rubbed the chao's head and allowed himself a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Evening cast long shadows over the Floating Island as the sun sank into the sea. Sonic and Tails raided Knuckles's pantry, and were eating and having a deep discussion about whether or not Metal Sonic could play videogames, and whether he would be any good, when they heard the back door open. Knuckles walked in and looked around at them. "Zephyer's not back yet?"

"Haven't seen her," said Sonic.

Knuckles frowned. "She always comes back before sundown ..."

"Maybe she got lost," said Tails.

Knuckles looked out the window and shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I've had a feeling all day that something was wrong," he muttered. He strode out of the room and returned with a flashlight. "Come on, you two." Sonic and Tails looked at each other, then jumped up and followed Knuckles outside.

Although the day had been warm, the evening had an edge of coolness that heralded the change of seasons. A damp breeze was blowing off the ocean, and the sun had slipped from view, leaving a rosy glow along the horizon. Before long they would be glad of Knuckles's flashlight.

"Which way did she go?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles snorted. "She's been hiking in the mountains. She might be anywhere."

"Right," said Sonic. "Come on, Tails, do some aerial recon for me." The two sprinted away into the gathering dusk, and Knuckles hurried after them, trying to banish the visions of Zephyer at the bottom of a cliff or buried in a rockslide. The Floating Island was a dangerous place, wild and uninhabited. But she knew that. That was the reason she was exploring: to learn about the dangers. One second Knuckles was proud of her, the next second he was mad at her, and the next he feared for her. If something happened to that girl, he'd never forgive himself.

The hills rose ahead of him, rocky and shadowed in the blue twilight, and Knuckles climbed them at a lope, shining his light here and there, looking for tracks. He found some tracks and stooped to look closer, but they were only Sonic's.

Running, sliding footsteps as Sonic descended the hill. Knuckles straightened up. "Find her?"

"Nope," Sonic called back. "Tails and I don't think she went up that way. There's a bunch of cliffs and it'd be hard to climb them unless she could glide. She can't glide, can she?"

"No," said Knuckles through his teeth. Zephyer had other abilities to replace gliding, but he wasn't going to explain that now. He motioned to the right. "I'm heading that way."

"Okay," said Sonic. "We'll go the other way." He whistled for Tails and darted off again, his blue spines blending with the shadows.

Knuckles climbed a steep hill on all fours, gripping the ground with his knuclaws, arrived at the top and flicked his light around the area. The hill sloped away below him toward a deep tree-filled gully, and the only sounds were crickets in the grass and the breeze stirring the trees. He shone his light at the gully and wondered if Zephyer might have fallen in. "Zephyer?" he called, walking down toward the edge. There was no answer, no sound but the crunching of his feet in the grass. He fought back an attack of worry. She was on the island somewhere. If she was lost, she would be holed up somewhere for the night, waiting for daybreak.

He swept the ground with his light and spotted some footprints. He stooped and examined them. Smaller than his own, they had the crinkle pattern of Zephyer's shoes. She had been following the gully. Knuckles jogged up the gully's rim, watching the ground for tracks. They appeared here and there, vanishing into the grass, reappearing in a sandy patch.

He followed her trail a mile or more as the gully wound up between the hills. Then suddenly her tracks left the rim, and he found the place where she had slid down into the ravine. For one horrible second he flashed his light down the slide, wondering if she had fallen. Then he plunged down the slope himself, sliding on his backside. At the bottom he found more tracks, and for the first time saw that the gully plunged into the mountainside like a tunnel. He hurried to the arch and peered in. If she had gone underground, it was no wonder she hadn't returned. The tunnels were confusing and it was easy to lose track of time in the darkness.

"Knuckles, where are you?" Tails called from back down the ravine.

"Over here!" Knuckles yelled, waving his light. He saw Tails helicoptering toward him, a black shape against the deep blue sky, his tails a spinning blur. As Tails descended, Sonic arrived at the top of the gully and slid down.

"No luck," Tails reported as they reached Knuckles.

"I found her tracks," said Knuckles, shining his light on the sandy ground where Zephyer's footprints led into the tunnel. "She hasn't come out." He led the way into the passage without another word, and Sonic and Tails followed, prepared for the worst. Knuckles had that steel-eyed locked-jaw look that he only wore when worried to distraction.

Before long they reached the glowing blue crystal vein in the ceiling, which illuminated the passage better than a flashlight. Knuckles clicked it off and called for Zephyer again, his voice echoing off the walls. There was no answer. "From now on she carries a communicator," he muttered, striding on. Sonic and Tails exchanged grins, despite their worry. Zephyer wouldn't take kindly to such a suggestion.

They rounded a bend and halted, Knuckles sucking in his breath through his teeth. They had reached the point where the passage had collapsed, sealing it off with rubble. The three stared at the mound of rock and broken crystal for several long seconds. Then Knuckles ran at it and began digging, hurling rock in all directions.

"Knuckles, wait!" Sonic exclaimed, grabbing his friend's arm. "There's a side passage, look!"

Knuckles straightened up. "What side passage?" His eyes were wide and desperate.

Tails was peering through a jagged hole in the wall, which appeared to have been covered with bricks. "I hear something," he said, ears pricked. "It sounds like somebody has a stereo in there."

Sonic and Knuckles crouched beside him and listened. Somewhere through that hole and eerie music was playing, something like the ring of a stroked wine glass and the hum of an electric fan.

One punch from Knuckles opened the hole to the size of a doorway. He rushed inside, reckless in his haste, and nearly fell through the gaping hole in the floor. He grabbed the walls to keep from falling and dropped to all fours on the edge. Sonic and Tails peered over his shoulders. Below them was a room lit in orange light, and the music echoed around it, hypnotic and enthralling. Whatever was causing the music was out of their range of vision.

"I don't like this," said Tails, holding his ears. "It's making me sleepy."

"Me too," said Sonic, blinking. "You think she's down there?"

"Yeah," said Knuckles. He turned around, slid into the hole, and let himself drop to the floor below.

He landed in a roll among the debris from the ceiling, and saw the exposed crystal vein made of spheres. Standing in front of the vein was Zephyer, rubbing the spheres one by one in slow, rhythmic movements. Here in the room with the music, Knuckles felt the urge to lie still and rest as the music worked its way into his brain, to surrender and let himself drift into nothingness ...

He shook himself and strode forward. "Zephyer!" he said sharply, grabbing her wrist as she reached for a sphere. "Stop it! What do you think you're doing?"

She didn't answer or resist him. Her face was blank, eyes fixed and staring. Her other hand kept stroking a nearby sphere mechanically, causing the note of the crystal to alter. Knuckles felt a mixture of rage and terror well up inside of him. She was in a trance! What kind of creepy crystal was this? He had to get her away from it!

He hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her off the floor, carrying her back toward the hole in the ceiling. She didn't struggle or make a sound. Behind him, the music settled into a single note that boared into his head, making him crazy. He had to get out of here, right now. "Tails!" he called. "Lift her up there!"

Tails helicoptered down into the room, staring at Zephyer and the orange crystals with his mouth open. "What's with her?"

"She's in a trance or something," said Knuckles. "Get her out of here, quick. Don't listen to that sound!"

Tails grabbed Zephyer's arms and hauled her into the air with a grunt. He lifted her through the hole in the ceiling where Sonic grabbed both of them.

Knuckles climbed up the wall, shaking his head as if that could banish the hypnotic hum of the crystals from his ears. He reached the passage above and found Sonic and Tails had taken Zephyer and run for the outer passage. He paused at the top, looking down into the chamber, listening to the music of the crystal. It was pleasant, really ... a shame to leave something so unique ...

Sonic pounded into the tunnel with his fingers in his ears. He grabbed Knuckles's arm and pulled. "Come on you moron! Don't you go getting hypnotized, too!" Sonic's voice disrupted the patterns the hum was drawing in Knuckles's head, and he rose and let Sonic drag him out of the passage and up the tunnel to the gully.

The cool night air was like a slap in the face, and Knuckles forgot the hum instantly as he saw Tails kneeling over Zephyer's motionless figure with the flashlight. Knuckles pushed him aside and crouched over Zephyer himself. Her eyes were open, staring at nothing, her face empty of all expression. "Zephyer?" he said, rubbing her face and hands.

Sonic and Tails watched. "She's really out of it," Sonic commented.

"I noticed," Knuckles snarled. "Shut up until you think of something useful to say."

Sonic's spines bristled. "Hey, you're not the only one worried about her!"

"Just back off!" snapped Knuckles, raising his fists.

"Stop it!" said Tails, stamping a foot. The hedgehog and echidna looked at the fox in surprise. "This isn't helping Zephyer!" he said, tails swishing like an angry cat's. "She's hypnotized, Knuckles. You have to undo it."

"Any ideas about how to do that, bright boy?" said Knuckles, glaring.

"Talk to her," said Tails, motioning to Zephyer. "The music's gone, so she might be able to hear you."

Knuckles turned back to Zephyer and looked into her sightless eyes. "Zephyer," he said quietly, aware of Sonic and Tails hovering over him, "the music has stopped. I want you to come back. Wake up now, because if you don't, I'm going to knock your stupid head off for touching those crystals." He said all this in the same smooth, even tone, and Sonic and Tails choked back their laughter.

Zephyer's eyelids flickered. "It's working!" Sonic whispered. "Keep talking!"

"Right," said Knuckles, hating his audience for their unspoken teasing. "Wake up, Zephyer. Wake up before I have to knock some manners into Sonic. I might knock out some of his teeth in the process. Come on, Zeff, snap out of it!"

The pitch of his voice changed, and Zephyer's eyes closed and opened again. The blank look vanished, and she winced and shielded her face from the flashlight's beam. "Knuckles? What's going on?"

Knuckles laid aside the flashlight and Zephyer sat up, looking around. "Hi Sonic, hi Tails. Wasn't Knuckles threatening to beat you up or something?"

"Yup," said Sonic. "It's his way of showing gratitude for us helping rescue you."

"Rescue me? Oh ..." Zephyer became still. "Knuckles, I found these weird crystals that grow in spheres, and they make a funny sound."

"Yeah, I know," said Knuckles. He had been holding one of her hands while he had spoken to her, and now couldn't seem to let it go. His terror had given way to relief, but a different kind of fear was rising in him-the fear of those spheres, and of what could have happened. "We went in there and carried you out. You were ..." Knuckles paused, uncertain how to describe it.

Sonic burst in, "You were playing those spheres like they were a piano or something!"

"Totally zoned out," added Tails. "Looked like you were dead when Knuckles handed you to me."

Zephyer looked at her free hand. "My fingers are raw. I must have been in there for hours..." She turned and clasped Knuckles's hand. "You have to block up that passage. What if somebody goes in there and we don't find out until weeks later?"

"Like you," said Knuckles, and for some reason her eyes made something within him melt and soften. He drew her to him and kissed her, not caring that Sonic and Tails were watching.

Tails covered his eyes. "Blech!"

But Sonic watched, one eyebrow raised. "Gee Knux, you're good for never having practiced much."

Knuckles released Zephyer and glared, but Zephyer grinned. "It's easy to learn, Sonic. Marry Sally and you'll see."

Sonic flushed.

Knuckles rose and helped Zephyer to her feet. She was none the worse for wear, although she was a little disoriented. They walked down the gully toward the place where they had slid down, Knuckles with an arm around his wife as if afraid she might slip into another trance. "I want you to carry a com next time you go hiking."

"A com? Why?" Zephyer peered at him, but the flashlight was aimed at the ground, and she could barely see his head, let alone his face.

"So I can find out where you are," said Knuckles.

"No way!" she yelped, making Sonic and Tails look around. "That's the point of hiking-to get away!"

"Zephyer, if I could have called you today, I would have known something was wrong sooner!"

"You found me," she snapped. "No need for a com, and I couldn't have answered anyway."

"Exactly!" he shot back. "If you hadn't have answered I'd have known you were in trouble."

"Oh, right," said Zephyer. "So now every time I'm late answering the com, I'm in mortal danger."

She climbed up the side of the gully, leaving Knuckles fuming. "I'll bust your stupid head one of these days, Zephyer!"

"Go ahead," she retorted over her shoulder. "Then I definitely couldn't answer a com."

There was a burst of laughter from Sonic and Tails on the gully rim, quickly silenced.

Knuckles and Zephyer didn't speak to each other for ten whole minutes, which was an accomplishment. It was pitch dark by this time, and they had one flashlight among four people, and the terrain was rocky. Sonic and Tails kept whispering to each other and laughing out loud, for the release of the tension had left them loopy. Knuckles would have liked to have joined in, but he was fuming at Zephyer, not sure if he wanted to knock her out or hug her.

He was so wrapped up in his emotions that he forgot to watch where he was going, tripped over a gopher hole in the grass and fell on his face. Sonic and Tails guffawed, and Zephyer retrieved the flashlight and helped him up. "Nice move, grace," she said, handing him the flashlight. As they walked on, she drew close to him and whispered, "I'll carry a com if it'll make you feel better. Just don't call me every five minutes."

"Of course not," said Knuckles, wondering how he could stay mad at her. "I'd only call if you were late like tonight."

Nearby, Sonic was finishing a joke. "... and the pig says to the horse, 'Why the long face?'" He and Tails roared with laughter.

"Hey, tell jokes where we can hear!" said Zephyer.

"Okay," said Sonic. "I heard this other one about how a moose, a wolf and a weasel walk into a bar ..."

The walk back to Chaotix Central seemed to take no time at all after that. By the time they reached it, the four were looped and ready to laugh at anything. Thus Zephyer heard a garbled account of Shadow's reappearance and plea for help while they ate dinner, punctuated with impertinent comments. As they reached the end of the story, Tails became quiet and stared at the floor as everyone else laughed and talked.

Zephyer noticed and sat down beside him. "What's the matter?"

"Mecha," said the fox, head drooping. "Sonic can laugh, he never saw him. It's like the saddest thing I've ever seen."

Zephyer felt the light-hearted mood drain out of her like spilled soda. "Really? It was really sad when Sonic brought him back from the battle, and Mecha was so hurt ..."

"This is different," said Tails. "He looks better, physically I mean, but he's depressed and ... it's just sad."

Knuckles and Sonic had fallen silent and were listening. "It is sad," said Knuckles. "It'd be like if Sonic was told he couldn't run anymore."

"No," said Sonic, "it's like if Robotnik beat me in a fight and broke my legs so I couldn't run. I'd be right where Mecha is."

"You wouldn't have surrendered, though," said Tails. "Mecha did. Why did he surrender, anyway?"

They all looked at Sonic, who shook his head. "He was really thrashed there at the end, but ... he just quit fighting."

"Maybe he'd been approaching breakdown for a long time," said Knuckles. "Never winning will do that to you."

"Too bad he was always plotting to hurt people," said Sonic bitterly. "If he hadn't been doing bad stuff, he might have succeeded once in a while."

"Yeah," said Tails, head still hanging. "It's still sad."

"Can we help him at all?" asked Zephyer. "Send supplies or something?"

"We'd have to get in touch with Shadow," said Knuckles. "He called us. We have no idea where they're hiding, and I have a feeling they don't want us to know."

"Next time he calls, let's send them some food," said Zephyer. "I know Shadow's chao eats, at least. Does Shadow eat?"

"He should," said Sonic. "He's not a complete robot."

"Mecha might, too," said Knuckles, steepling his fingers and studying them.

Sonic snickered. "He's a robot, Knux. He runs on rocket fuel or something."

Knuckles looked at Sonic with a frown. "He can use the chaos field, if you'll remember. Only Mobians can do that. Somewhere along the line he's upgraded his body, making it so organic that he can manipulate chaos. He's not a robot anymore."

A long silence followed these words. Sonic hung his head and gazed at the floor. "Thanks, Knux," he muttered. "Just when I'd managed to stop feeling guilty..."

"We'll just give him all the help we can," said Tails.

Zephyer nodded. "I hope Shadow is smart enough to keep in touch. Otherwise we can't actually do anything."

* * *

Shadow  
was still asleep on the floor of the construction chamber, exhausted   
from his teleport across the globe and strenuous Chaos Sight. For the   
first time in two months, Metal Sonic had the run of the base with no   
one to follow him around except Nox, and Nox left him alone now that the  
new chao had hatched.

Mecha took his chao to the supply room, sat on the floor and spoon-fed it the liquid nutri-rations that Shadow ate. The chao ate eagerly, opening its toothless mouth wide after every bite. Mecha knew it couldn't understand him, and spoke his thoughts aloud for the sake of talking. Since he had redesigned his speech capabilities to mimic those of a Mobian, with vocal chords, lungs and an articulate mouth, he found speaking amusing, a novelty. He still had trouble pronouncing some words, but was determined to overcome all speech problems; no one respected a person who could not speak clearly.

"I do not like chao," he told the little creature at his feet. "However, I have studied them for their abilities to adapt to any environment. They also seem to adopt characteristics of a person they come into contact with, such as looks and mannerisms. I do not know why this is so, and perhaps I can further my research by studying you. I have not interacted with a chao since my body upgrades ... no, actually, there was one, and he was infuriating. But he had imprinted on a small obnoxious child and had absorbed her characteristics."

As he spoke, he spooned the soupy rations into the chao's mouth. It was watching him with bright eyes, as if trying to understand his speech. Mecha went on, "But you have imprinted on me, and therefore your development will be fascinating. Will you take on my primary physical features? Adopt my manner of speaking? Mimic my personality? I shall record your progress. I will not know the exact results of your growth until your cocoon-evolution, which you will reach at six weeks of age. I have read that it is sometimes sooner, depending on the speed of a chao's development."

The chao was taking longer and longer to swallow its food. Now it closed its mouth and turned its head away from the spoon. It had eaten nearly a whole container. Mecha rose and returned the package and spoon to a shelf. The chao sat on the floor and watched him, blinking. As Mecha turned back, it yawned and held up its arms. Mecha hesitated. He disliked physical contact, especially with his temporarily super-sensitive nerve endings. But chao thrived on physical contact, and he did want it to develop quickly. He stooped and picked up the chao, which immediately snuggled up to the warm place on his chest. Mecha grimaced, for the chao's touch hurt him, but he tolerated it. He lifted a hand and stroked the chao's head, and it made a contented crooning sound. In an odd way, Mecha found the sound pleasing, almost soothing.

The storage room door opened and Nox stepped in, looking around at Mecha and the chao. Mecha instantly held his chao out at arm's length, and it whimpered.

"Hi," said Nox, pretending he hadn't seen this. "Are you done feeding her? I'm hungry."

Mecha's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'her'?"

Nox motioned to the chao in Mecha's claws. "She's a girl. See how short her topknot is? Boys have long ones." Mecha examined his chao's head as Nox trotted to the shelves and took down rations for himself.

A female! Why did it have to be a female? Females weren't as aggressive as males, which destroyed his plans to train the chao into a fighting machine. Mecha glared at the chao, which merely looked at him with innocent eyes. She was four times smaller than Nox, he noticed.

Mecha gave Nox a dirty look. "You should remain with Shadow and keep your observations to yourself."

"You can't get rid of her," said Nox, who as usual responded to the attitude and unspoken emotions behind the words. "She's already imprinted on you."

Mecha pointed at the door. "Get out."

"Okay, fine." Nox slid to the floor and carried his dinner outside in to the hall. "She already loves you!" he called through the half-open door. "Don't hurt her, please?"

Mecha slammed the door.

He let the chao cuddle up to him again, and watched as her eyes closed and her breathing deepened. He was ashamed of this weakness he had discovered in himself; the inability to discard something he now viewed as worthless. He was weak enough to care. In the space of an hour he had grown a liking for this chao, the same way he had grown to care for Shadow. Why did his subconscious sneak ahead of him and form attachments with individuals that his waking mind scorned? That was what people called 'heart'-the ability to empathize with and care about others.

"You are not alive," he thought dully. "This is not caring. It is merely an instinct programmed into your survival algorithms. You only form attachments with those who will help you survive." He looked down at the sleeping chao, wondering how this tiny defenseless thing could help him survive.

Nox said she already loved him, and it sent an odd warm feeling through his central nervous system. Although Mecha had had acquaintances and allies throughout his existence, no one had ever loved him before. He wasn't sure what love was, exactly, but so far it meant that she trusted him and wanted to stay with him at all times. Did all chao love their imprinted parents? Nox had a deep fondness for Shadow, he knew that. If that was love, then he could make use of it. It was like ... like having a voluntary slave.

As Mecha grappled with this alien concept, the door opened and Nox looked in again. "Have you named her yet?"

"No," snarled Mecha. "Stay out."

Nox grunted and closed the door, but Mecha had a feeling that he was listening at the crack. Mecha looked down at his chao, observing her grayish coloring, round paws, and tiny, crumpled wings. Perhaps a name meaning 'small'. He ran a search through his mental databanks, where his libraries of millions of words were stored. There were many synonyms for 'small', but nothing like a name. It was a pity he had never collected names the way he had collected other words.

He connected via the wireless network to the base's computer and queried it for names. After a while a list came up containing names and their meanings. Near the top of the list he came upon one that amused him.

Aleda: small and winged.

That described this chao exactly. He looked down at her and said it aloud, very softly. "Aleda." It sounded like 'Ally-da'. The more he thought about it, the better the name fit her. She even looked like an Aleda.

The door opened yet again and Mecha turned and snarled at Nox. The black chao looked up at him, unafraid. "Hi Mecha. Do you think you could do something about Shadow?"

"What about him?" growled Mecha.

Nox looked down. "The construction chamber needs to run a cleaning cycle, and it can't start if Shadow's in there."

At the moment Metal Sonic couldn't care less about Shadow or the construction chamber. He debated kicking Nox out yet again, then looked down at Aleda. He didn't want to hold her the entire time she slept. He could put her down on the mattress where he spent his nights (he did not actually sleep, and if he did, he did not admit it), then move Shadow to his own cot, provided Shadow did not wake up.

Without bothering to answer Nox, Mecha snapped off the lights and strode out into the dark hall. He switched his vision to infrared mode and went to the chamber he now shared with Shadow. He carefully laid Aleda down on the mattress among the holes and rips Mecha's metal spines had left. She whimpered, sighed and slept on.

Then Mecha returned to the construction chamber for Shadow. The black hedgehog had not moved, still lying in a heap on the floor of the chamber. Mecha looked at him a moment, considering ripping Shadow's throat out just to be rid of him. Shadow had been nothing but a hassle since their return from the Annihilator, always dogging Mecha's footsteps and never giving him a moment's peace. But then Mecha was the one who had enslaved Shadow, so it was his own fault for tampering with the hedgehog's mind in the first place.

He dragged Shadow out of the chamber by one foot, then picked him up as roughly as possible, hoping Shadow would wake up so Mecha could yell at him for saddling him with a chao. But Shadow was dead to the world. Mecha carried him to his chamber, letting Shadow's feet drag the floor, and dropped him unceremoniously on his cot. Shadow didn't move, and Mecha might have thought he was dead had be not been breathing.

Mecha turned to check Aleda, but felt a touch of discomfort somewhere inside of him. Frustrated as he was with Shadow, he still liked him deep down, liked him enough to show a little kindness now and then. Mecha picked up the blanket at the foot of Shadow's bed and tossed it over the hedgehog's body. As he did, a sheet of paper fluttered to the floor. Mecha picked it up.

He increased the brightness of his eyes' glow to illuminate the page, and saw it was written in an unfamiliar hand-large and sloppy, but readable. His eyes swept the page.

"Dear Mecha,

"Shadow wouldn't let me visit you, and I guess I know why. I wanted to apologize anyway. I really let you have it back there on the fleet, and I guess I should have let up sooner.

"I'm not sorry I beat you.

"You were going to attack the colonies, and I couldn't let you do that. But I am sorry that I hurt you so bad. If I can do anything to help you get better, I will. Have Shadow call, he knows where I am.

"Sonic."

Anger and hatred welled up inside of Mecha, such as he had not felt since that night on his flagship. His biofiber muscles tensed until his whole body shook with the strain, and he crushed the paper in his hands. He ripped it into pieces with his trembling claws. How dare Sonic write to him. How DARE he!

Sonic was the reason Mecha was in this state. Sonic was the reason Shadow bore those hideous scars across his body. Sonic was the reason all of Mecha's plans had failed. And Mecha had been forced to admit that Sonic, was, indeed, superior to him. The memory of saying the words ripped his heart in half all over again, and his hatred and anger gave way to crushing despair.

He leaned against the wall and covered his face with both hands. And just when his mental faculties were operating almost normally again, too. He felt as if someone had taken a jackhammer to his brain, destroying the few fragments of sanity he had regained. Why had Sonic written to him? Sonic offering to help him! The shame of it all!

Mecha slid to the floor and rested his head on his knees, his synthetic muscles going limp. He wanted to die all over again. It just wasn't worth it. As long as Sonic lived, Mecha would always be the cheap copy, and ever since he had admitted that he was indeed the cheap copy, his self-confidence had oozed away. Distracted momentarily by a chao, he remembered the reason for his misery and was torn into pieces by emotions he couldn't admit he had. The only way he knew how to vent this kind of pain was with anger.

He rose to his feet and left the room. The training rooms were a perfect place to release his rage and pain, and Shadow would never know.


	4. Chapter 4

Sapphire City's summertime was still going strong, with temperatures above 100 degrees every day. Rouge and Nack were staying in Rouge's apartments in the city until the first leg of their plans went into action. Rouge saw no reason not to enjoy a little comfort-and air conditioning-while they hunted for the Floating Island. And her second apartment next door was perfect for Nack.

Nack didn't care where they lived, as long as they were in a big city. Rouge warned him against showing himself around town, because they didn't want anyone to know their location, but several times he emerged from his rooms in the morning with something suspiciously like a hangover.

Locating the Floating Island was tricky. It moved with the wind and weather, and according to the Guardian's whims. It was never in the same place from day to day, and the only way they could have located it was with satellite photos. But GUN controlled the satellites, and Rouge wasn't about to ask them for help.

Her alternate plan was to wait for the island. Every fall Knuckles moved it south to the tropics, taking it right past Sapphire City. It was so routine that nobody cared much anymore, but curious folks always watched the island travel by. It was usually within sight for a whole day.

That particular morning, Rouge was standing on her balcony, scanning the horizon through a telescope, as she did every day. Nack was sitting in a patio chair nearby, enjoying a morning cigar and watching the traffic on the Speed Highway.

"What'll we do if this island of yours shows up?" asked Nack, taking his cigar out of his mouth and examining the end. "In case you haven't noticed, it's a little hard to get to a flying rock."

"Who's in charge of this operation?" said Rouge without looking away from the telescope eyepiece.

Nack shrugged. "You tell me. I only took this job because I thought we'd see some action."

"We will," said Rouge, her ears flicking backward slightly. "The Floating Island is covered in lakes and rivers. I'm going to hire a seaplane to fly us out there and land in a lake, completely inaccessible to any Guardian."

Nack stuck his cigar back in his mouth. "What's to keep this Guardian from seeing us or hearing the plane fly in? I doubt they get much air traffic out there."

"There'll be a distraction," said Rouge, tiring of the horizon and studying the cityscape with her telescope. "I'll leave that to you."

"Now you tell me," said Nack, baring his fang in a grin. "Well then! Guess I'd better get to work." He blew a cloud of smoke over the rail and remained seated.

Rouge thought he was kidding, and fell to planning distractions herself. Nack's favorite thing was to spend his time doing nothing, and the more he could get away with, the better. Maybe she could strand him on the Floating Island. It'd serve him right.

But he surprised her. That afternoon Rouge was going through a stack of brochures on charter plans, and looked up as her door opened. Nack stepped in, looking smug. "Hey Rouge, I found a distraction for us." He bowed and stepped aside, and Robo Knux entered the room.

Rouge leaped to her feet with a gasp. The last time she had seen Robo Knux she had been stealing his data, and he could not have forgotten. The red robot was modeled after an echidna with triangular dreadlocks containing his hoverjets, and flat, wing-like arms ending in deadly eight-inch claws. His claws were now diamond-tipped, Rouge noticed.

"Greetings," said the robot, his green eyes sweeping the room. "Nice place you've got here."

"Robo Knux and I go way back," said Nack, clapping a hand on the robot's shoulder-plate.

"Yes," purred the robot, "I have assisted Nack in several bounty hunts when jobs were scarce. I understand you have a job of an ... unusual nature planned."

"Well, yes," said Rouge, sitting down again but keeping her eyes on Robo Knux. Unlike Metal Sonic, he gave no warning of changing humor and often attacked his allies out of boredom. "A jewel heist. We will need a suitable distraction."

"Yes, Nack told me," said Robo Knux, crossing the room and looking out a window. "The Master Emerald, correct?"

"Correct," said Rouge, trying to watch Robo Knux and Nack at the same time. Nack was grinning with irritating smugness.

Robo Knux turned and looked at Rouge. "Well, what's the plan?"

Rouge slid a brochure across the table toward him, and he advanced and picked it up. "We'll hire a seaplane and land in a lake near one of the teleporters. We'll take that to the Hidden Palace, collect the goods and return to the mainland via teleporter. It's your job to keep the Guardians distracted during the heist."

Robo Knux cocked his head. "Guardians?"

Rouge nodded, hoping he didn't notice the color flood her face.

Nack said, "Knuckles got himself hitched."

Robo Knux looked remarkably blank for a machine incapable of expression. "To who?"

Nack watched Rouge's face as he spoke the name. "Zephyer Winstrom."

Rouge's eyes blazed.

"Ahh," said Robo Knux, also watching her. "I understand now. Why don't you just kill Zephyer and get it over with?"

Rouge couldn't speak, so Nack said, "Killing the girl won't make us filthy rich the way swiping that emerald will."

Robo Knux examined the two claws on one hand. "You do know that removing the Master Emerald destroys the island's hovering mechanism."

"Yes," said Rouge.

Robo Knux looked at her, green eyes brightening and diodes sparkling. "You're a vindictive one, bat. I like that."

"So are you in?" asked Rouge.

He slid the brochure back to her. "Very well, I'm in. May I set my fee?"

"Name it," said Rouge.

Robo Knux's eyes swept the room lazily, making her wait, before he faced her directly. "When you cut the Master Emerald, I want a piece this size." He held up a fist.

"Done," said Rouge.

Robo Knux looked at Nack. "And your hat."

Nack's smile vanished, and he clamped a hand on top of his hat, flattening his ears. "No way!"

"Then I'm not participating in this heist," said Robo Knux, turning back to the window.

Nack glared at the robot's back, then pulled off his hat and flung it at him. Robo Knux turned and caught it, and put it on his metal head. It gave him a more Mobian look, while clashing with his angular black eyes and silver muzzle. "Thank you," he said. "You just increased your life expectancy by two months." He nodded to them. "I'll be in touch. A job like this doesn't come along every day."

He tipped his hat insolently to Nack and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Nack leaped up and stormed around the room. "I don't believe him! Who does he think he is?" He called the robot several names, then Rouge held up a hand.

"If it keeps him on our side, then it's worth it. Do you know how dangerous he is?"

Nack flopped in a chair, flinging his tail over the arm. "Yes. You can't tick him off like that, he has a short temper."

"I wasn't trying to tick him off."

"Sure." Nack glared at her. "This is what I get for working with a woman!" He jumped up again and stomped out the door.

"Where are you going?" snapped Rouge.

"To buy a new hat!" Nack snarled, slamming the door.

* * *

When  
Sonic got up that morning, he found Knuckles and Zephyer seated at the   
kitchen table, which was piled with clay tablets and stacks of   
parchment. Both of them were bent over a tablet with notebooks and   
pencils, jotting notes, translating.

Sonic pulled out a chair and sat down. "Morning guys. If your brains catch fire, should I pour water on you, or just stomp you out?"

Knuckles gave no indication he knew Sonic existed, but Zephyer looked up. "You get water on these writings and I'll kill you myself. Good morning, by the way."

Sonic motioned to the table. "What're you doing?"

"We're looking up those spheres," said Zephyer, looking at her notebook. "According to the echidnaen records, they're called thrall spheres, but they keep referring to a particular document for more details. We're trying to find it."

"Oh," said Sonic, taking an orange from a fruit bowl and peeling it. "What's so special about thrall spheres, anyway? Other than hypnotizing dumb echidna girls."

Zephyer gave him a dirty look. "Watch it, buster. You're in my house, eating my food."

"Right," said Sonic, remorseless. "So what about thrall spheres?"

Zephyer shrugged. "Apparently they have weird effects on the Master Emerald. We're trying to find out what." She bent over the tablet again.

Sonic ate his orange, watching the echidnas work. Zephyer's long red dreadlocks were tied back with a ribbon, and she was wearing an odd-looking tunic with no sleeves, tied around the waist. With a mild shock Sonic realized she was dressed like the echidnas in ancient paintings in the ruined cities.

As he watched her, he noticed with amusement that she had trouble understanding Old Mobian, for it took her several minutes to write anything down.

Knuckles, on the other hand, knew Old Mobian so well that he was writing with one hand and following the script with the other, lips moving as he translated the words to himself. Sonic's presence was unnecessary, so he finished his orange, made himself some toast and went outside.

The birds were singing in the trees, and the blooming flowers were fall colors: purple, orange and yellow. Sonic walked down the lawn to the trail, and stood looking out at the ocean, eating his toast with one hand. Being around Knuckles and Zephyer made him homesick for Sally. He didn't know how he could stand another week without her. Maybe today he'd call and see if she wanted to come visit. Ever since she had been relieved of her princess duties, she had tons of free time and was so happy it was like she was a different person. Maybe he could persuade Knuckles to give her some chaos emerald training. Not that it would help much ... Sally responded to chaos power differently than anyone he had ever seen ...

Sonic finished his toast and was doing some warm-up stretches in preparation for his morning run when the front door opened and Tails walked out, also carrying a piece of toast, his fur rumpled and eyes sleepy.

"Heya little bro," said Sonic, bending to touch his toes. "Sleep good?"

"I guess," said Tails, yawning. "I thought I was still trying to use a chaos emerald, and I'd wake myself up concentrating."

Sonic smiled, stooping to touch his feet with opposite hands. "I had dreams like that when Knuckles was teaching me to teleport real good. Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually."

Tails smiled. "I hope so. Hey, did you see all that stuff Knux and Zeff are working on?"

"Yep," said Sonic. "Wild life they lead."

Tails took a bite of toast. "I think we could go back to that cave if we took earplugs."

"Maybe." Sonic did some torso twists. "If looking at the thrall spheres doesn't hypnotize you, too."

"Thrall spheres," said Tails. "That's fun to say. Thrall sphere. Thrall sphere."

"It seems their very name is hypnotic," grinned Sonic. "I'm ready for a run. Want to come?"

"Sure, let me finish this." Tails crammed the rest of the toast in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Okay, let's go."

Sonic set off at an easy lope down the trail, and Tails followed him.

* * *

Aleda  
awoke in the dark and lifted her head. She was lying on something soft,  
and there was the heavy breathing of someone sleeping to her right. She  
blinked, trying to see, but the darkness was complete. She was only a   
day-old chao, and had not yet adapted enough to see through the   
blackness of the underground base. She sat up and gave a questioning   
cry. Where was red-eyes? She wanted her red-eyes!

But no red-eyes appeared. Aleda felt around her bed, encountered the edge and fell off, striking the floor a foot below with a smack. It hurt! She cried for a moment, but when nothing happened to comfort her, she lifted her head and climbed to her feet. She wanted to see her master, her parent, and this urge drove her like hunger or thirst. Her brain was being forced to develop, and she learned something new with every step she took.

She blundered through the doorway and made it out into the hall. Out here, near the floor, she could hear a faint whisper of sound. She turned toward it and began walking with the peculiar bouncing gait of a chao. The sounds grew louder, and now she could see dim light reflecting off the walls. She smiled and tried to hurry.

Aleda arrived at a door with light shining through the crack underneath it. The sounds were loud now; crashes, thumps and the clang of metal on metal. The door was locked, but she didn't know that. The crack under the door was three inches wide, and she flattened herself to the floor and squeezed through. In another few days she would have grown too much to fit, but that was one advantage to being an infant chao with an independent streak.

The room on the other side was brightly lit, and Aleda looked around, blinking. She was in the antechamber of the training rooms, which was a simple maze loaded with targets and obstacles. She could hear the noise of destruction somewhere beyond a doorway in the back, and toddled forward. She heard Mecha snarl and curse under his breath, and recognized his voice. He was here! She hurried to find him.

The maze was littered with sawdust and bits of fabric that had once been dolls resembling Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. All of them had been reduced to shreds by one furious combatant who had been in this maze for hours.

Aleda turned two corners and spotted Metal Sonic at the end of the hall, his blue hull coated in sawdust and his red eyes burning like torches. As she bounced toward him, he seized an intact doll by the neck, sank his claws into the side of its head and tore the front of its head off. Then he shredded its body and limbs with lightning-fast swipes of his claws, a cloud of sawdust filling the air.

Anyone else could have had second thoughts about approaching someone who was practicing murder, but Aleda was young and didn't know any better. She began to babble baby-talk, not caring what Mecha was doing as long as she was with him.

He dropped the doll and slowly turned to face her, head low, arms loose and ready for attack, fingers curled into claws. He was angry and aggressive, and even Shadow would have run from him when he looked like that. He was panting through his teeth, face contorted and eyes narrowed, his heart pounding to carry oxygen to tired biofibers.

Aleda toddled right to his feet and looked up at him with innocent delight. She had found him! She chattered and talked, telling him all about her trek down the dark hall.

He stood perfectly still, looking down at her, torso expanding and contracting with each breath, debating disemboweling her as he had every single practice doll in the training room. His fury and pain were as great as they had been when he had read the letter, and destroying things had not helped. And now this annoying little distraction had come to find him. She wasn't afraid of him at all, for his fighting stance meant nothing to her. He ought to rip her to pieces and be rid of her ...

Wait. She had come to find him. Not to spy on him, but because she wanted to be near him. No one else in his entire life had sought him out for his company. He let his arms and fingers relax. There was no sense in destroying something that he didn't yet understand. Once he figured out her odd liking for him (love again?) he would discard her. But in the meantime ...

Mecha scooped her up in one hand and held her on level with his eyes. "This is a dangerous place for chao," he growled. "You shouldn't have come in here."

She only giggled. How had she got in, anyway? He had made certain to lock the door. He strode for the entry room, carrying the little chao in one hand as if she were a piece of garbage. She trilled and crooned, not caring how he handled her as long as she was with him.

The door was still locked. Mecha gazed at it in growing bewilderment, and looked at the chao again. "Aleda, how did you enter this room?"

She burbled and clapped her paws. She couldn't understand him. He swept the door with his eyes, finally stopping on the crack under it. Of course-she was so tiny, she must have crawled under. He gave her a disgusted look, secretly proud. She had solved a problem! At only one day old! Had this come from her imprinting on him, or was she simply that intelligent already?

Well, there was no point in leaving the room just yet. He stroked Aleda's head, speaking softly to her, praising her for outwitting a locked door. Somewhere in the past few minutes the anger had died out of him, and he had forgotten the pain. Here was a being willing to shower him with affection for absolutely no reason. He found himself wanting to return her affection. She had solved a problem, and was the only creature in the world who wasn't afraid of him.

He knew he could cow her, make her afraid of him; he had terrorized so many other people that he knew how it was done. But for some reason, he didn't want her to fear him. He wanted her to continue liking him in this innocent way, unafraid even when he was in one of his worst moods.

Worst moods ... he remembered the letter, and the weight and sickness hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn't know what to do with emotions this extreme-anger wasn't enough. For the first time in his life, anger didn't help him cope. But what else was there?

Aleda whimpered, and he realized he was tightening his grip on her. Despite his turmoil, he couldn't hurt her. She didn't understand. He rested her on his shoulder, where she snuggled her head into his neck. It was unexpectedly soothing, and some awful feeling rose in him that he had no name for, but it was beyond anger, and made him want to curl up in a dark corner somewhere. A new form of misery that he didn't know how to express. So he stroked his chao, shut his eyes, and waited for the feeling to pass.

* * *

Knuckles dropped his pencil and massaged his forehead. "Nothing," he said. "Zeff, I'm going back to that cavern."

Zephyer was leaning back in her chair, thumbing through one of Knuckles's old notebooks, her attention having long since wandered from translating. She looked up as he spoke. "Good. I'm going with you."

Knuckles rose from his chair and stretched. "I don't think you should."

"Somebody has to go with you," said Zephyer, gazing at him. "What if you wind up hypnotized next?"

Knuckles began stacking parchments and tablets back into their boxes. "I'm taking earplugs. I don't want to put you in danger. There's something fishy about how no historians will talk about them."

Zephyer stood and helped him clean up. She knew he was being as kind as he could, but he was overprotective of her, and it drove her mad. "Knux," she said softly, "I do appreciate that, but ... the worst has already happened. They hypnotize you with sound. That's why they're called thrall spheres. If we both take earplugs, we'll be fine. I really think we should use a buddy system."

Knuckles looked at her, biting back a retort. Her suggestion was reasonable, but he didn't want her in contact with the spheres until they knew more about them. The possibility that he might fall into thrall, himself, never entered his mind. "A buddy system is a good idea," he said. "I'll take Sonic."

Zephyer opened her mouth and put her hands on her hips, outraged. Before she could say anything, he went on, "If nothing happens, I'll let you go in on our second trip. Okay?"

"Not fair, Knuckles Echidna!"

He grinned. "If you wanted fair, you shouldn't have married me. You knew I was a tyrant."

She huffed and threw up her hands. "Fine! But I'm coming as far as the passage."

"Deal."

They finished putting away the old writings, and Knuckles went looking for Sonic while Zephyer stood in the kitchen, wondering what to use for earplugs. Cotton didn't block all sound. They needed something that blocked all sound completely ... like wax. Aha! A few weeks earlier, she and Knuckles had found a hive of wild bees and had harvested half the honeycomb. She had strained out the wax and saved it.

She rummaged in the pantry and pulled out a plastic bag with a chunk of yellowish wax in it. She broke off several pieces and molded them in her hands, warming it and making it flexible, and when Knuckles returned with Sonic and Tails in tow, she had divided it into four pairs of earplug-sized lumps.

"See, I told you she'd think of something," said Knuckles, spying Zephyer's handiwork. "Great idea, Zeff."

She beamed.

Sonic, however, looked less than thrilled. "What're we supposed to do down there, anyway? All my chaos training makes me a magnet for weird events-I think you've altered my chaos field, Knux."

"You're the only one who can do that," said Knuckles, grabbing a lump of wax and handing some to Sonic. "I'll grab some lights and we can go."

As he dashed out of the room, Sonic muttered, "Fanatic. Do you guys actually know anything about those spheres?"

"No," said Zephyer, pulling her shoes out from under the table and putting them on. "That's why we have to go poke around the cave again."

"Yeah, something weird will happen to me," grumbled Sonic. "Look what happened to you!"

"Not if you don't let it," said Zephyer. "I knew better, but I still went and touched them."

Tails nudged Sonic. "Like you and the eighth chaos emerald. Think what would have happened if you had left it alone."

Sonic winced. "Don't go there, please."

"Well, I'm not worried," said Tails swishing his tails. "I can't use Chaos Emeralds at all, so those spheres don't worry me."

"Yeah, what if you can use them instead of the emeralds?" said Sonic. "That'd be trippy."

Knuckles returned, carrying three flashlights. He handed one to Sonic and one to Zephyer, then said, "Sorry Tails, I couldn't find one for you."

"It's okay," said Tails. "I'll bring the green emerald and work on it while I wait."

"Okay," said Knuckles. "Let's go."

* * *

Robo  
Knux walked down an alley between two rows of houses, moving quickly   
and purposefully. His face was too well known for him to walk openly   
down a road in one of the human colonies-or any Mobian city, for that   
matter. He was notorious and liked it, but it meant that traveling on   
foot was slightly hazardous.

He had worked out routes all over Sapphire City, keeping only to back streets, alleys and service roads. He found it amusing, a simple problem to solve. Something like this jewel heist business. If it was up to him, they wouldn't be waiting for the Floating Island-they would be storming it. He thought about slaughtering Knuckles and Zephyer and taking the Master Emerald himself, but alas, he did not know the way to Hidden Palace.

Slaughtering Knuckles and Zephyer would be a lot of fun, actually. Imagine the fight they would put up. Ahh, but in the end they were merely organic, and after taking some damage in the right places, they would die and he would never get to fight them again. That was the trouble with organisms ... once you ran your claws through them a few times, they were done fighting.

Which was why he was vaguely sorry that Mecha had gone down for the count. Robo Knux had heard many things about Mecha's upgraded biometal self, and how he had only fallen to Sonic after Sonic had recruited a whole gang of friends to help him. If anyone could have given Robo Knux a good fight, it was Mecha.

He came to a street, scanned it for lifeforms, found it deserted, and crossed at a jog, ducking into another alley across the street. Two blocks to go. The morning was quiet here in the residential section, with only a muffled roar coming from downtown to remind him he was in a bustling city. The trees were enormous and cast dense shade over the alley. He trotted around trash cans and scuffed through leaves, glad that he had had the bottoms of his feet covered in thick rubber soles, so he no longer clanked when he moved. It also gave him better traction.

He glanced at the houses through the chinks in the alley fence, located the one he was after, and stepped up to the gate. He wished for a moment that he was taller than three feet, and noted to himself to get an upgraded frame someday. He reached up, undid the latch on the gate and let himself into the yard.

It was a big yard, the back half was divided from the front half by a screen of junipers. The back half contained a large shed and three large pieces of machinery under tarps. The door of the shed was open, and Robo Knux walked up and rapped his claws on the frame.

Inside the shed was a tall, thin teenaged boy with black hair and a stubby beard. He looked up at the knock, and smiled. "Hey there, Robo Knux! Come in quick, my parents are home."

Robo Knux stepped into the shed, closing the door behind him. The shed was the size of a small house, and the walls were lined with tools, grinders, a welding torch, a propane tank, and numerous other interesting things that Robo Knux paid no attention to. "Hello Mitch," he said. "I am in need of maintenence before I go on another mission."

Mitch began clearing tools and old Coke bottles off a nearby workbench. "Get up here and I'll see what I can do for you. What do you need? Oil?"

"Oil, fresh grease, and a bit of sharpening for my claws," said Robo Knux, swinging up on the table and stretching out. "Also check my three o' clock jet, it's been backfiring too much lately."

Mitch picked up a can of grease and unscrewed the lid. "I have to be careful with this. Last time you were here we used up most of the polish, and Dad wasn't too happy about it. I had to buy a new can."

"I'm surprised he hasn't yet turned me in," said Robo Knux, raising an arm so Mitch could work grease into his shoulder joint. "I am well-known for my crimes."

"Dad hasn't told Shawn," said Mitch, rotating Robo Knux's arm. "Shawn would turn you in."

"The day any of you turn me in, I will return and rip you all to pieces," said Robo Knux.

"Yeah, you say that every time," said Mitch, leaving Robo Knux's arm and lifting one of his dreadlocks to peer in the end. "Looks like your heat shielding has burned through in this jet. I'll have to repair it."

"Go ahead," said Robo Knux, flexing his greased arm. "It will be weeks before my mission goes into motion."


	5. Chapter 5

Shadow awoke in his dark chamber and lay staring at the ceiling. He had slept so deeply that it took a while for full consciousness to return, and he felt a little sick in his head. His robot half took a while to boot up, each system loading sluggishly. As a result, it was some time before he noticed that Nox was curled up beside his head. The chao was awake, and his breathing was so quiet that Shadow hadn't noticed him.

Shadow reached over and rubbed Nox's head. The chao murmured, "You've been asleep for an awfully long time. It's morning already."

8:23 AM. With a rush of horror, Shadow realized Mecha had been left unattended for nearly twelve hours. He sat up and threw off the blanket, querying the main computer for word of Mecha's whereabouts. At the same time he whispered aloud, "Nox, where's Mecha?"

"He locked himself into the training rooms," replied the chao. "By the way, that egg hatched. It was a girl chao, and she's been with him ever since."

Mecha had last used the main computer six hours ago. Shadow began to panic the way a parent does when a child is lost near the edge of a high cliff. He bolted from the room, calling over the network, "Master! Master!" His messages were received, but not answered. Mecha was alive, at least.

Shadow arrived at the door to the training room and saw the light under the door. He stood there, listening. All was quiet. He knocked, trying to recover his composure. "Mecha," he said over the network again. "Please answer me. Just to assure me that you are ..." For some reason the word 'unhurt' didn't seem strong enough, and it came out, "...alive."

Mecha couldn't resist. "I have never been alive, Shadow. My status does not resemble anything like life."

Shadow exhaled and leaned against the wall. If Mecha was well enough to snarl at him, then he must not have harmed himself. As Shadow stood there, his sleepy brain began to process other things. He had collapsed inside the construction chamber ... how had he returned to his cot? And was the reason Mecha had locked himself into the training room because he was training his chao?

For the first time in over two months, Shadow felt the tension ease within him. At long last Metal Sonic was behaving normally. Over the network, Shadow said, "Yes ... of course. I'm returning to my chamber."

He walked back down the hall, and suddenly he hated every inch of it. He had been trapped in this place for too long. He allowed himself to remember the four exciting days he had experienced in Rio Del Fuego, the casino city. Fighting, running, facing danger and uncertainty every second of every day ... and being outdoors. Sunlight or not, he suddenly missed the smell of the free wind and the sense of freedom that came from open spaces.

"Nox," he said, stepping into his chamber, which now seemed small and cramped, "I'm going outside for a run."

Nox's eyes widened. "Can I come, too?"

"No," said Shadow, taking the orange chaos emerald off its shelf. "I'm taking a communicator so you can reach me if something should happen. You must watch Mecha for me."

As Shadow strapped his com to his wrist, Nox folded his arms and pouted. "I'm sick of watching Mecha! I want to go run around outside!"

"Later," said Shadow. "If he asks, I'm in ..." He closed his organic eye, summoning the name from his memories of the world before he became Mekion. "...I'm in Sapphire City." He teleported in a flash of light.

Nox fumed and grumbled under his breath, and decided to do the most rebellious thing he could think of.

He would turn on all the lights.

* * *

The  
cavern containing the thrall spheres was just as they have left it.   
Sonic and Knuckles made sure their earplugs were secure, then jumped   
down into the orange-lit chamber. Knuckles couldn't hear the spheres at   
all, and he looked at Sonic. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up, and they began   
poking around the cave with their flashlights.

Without the music distracting him, Knuckles was able to examine the spheres objectively. Careful not to touch them, he observed that the entire crystal vein had taken on spherical shapes, and he wished he knew what chemicals and elements made up this rock. There were toolmarks on the rock on both sides, showing that ancient miners had opened the vein and worked around it.

He moved along the wall, playing his light over the floor. The ground was littered with rocks and dust that had fallen from the ceiling, and the floor was cracked and broken at one end of the cavern. He circled it and found himself facing one of the sealed doorways. Where did this lead?

As he looked at the bricks, he realized there were gold trinkets mixed with the mortar. Involuntarily he stepped back. The ancients had placed curses on these doors. Breaking one open would unbalance the chaos energy stored in those trinkets-probably each containing power crystal-and they might explode, or warp the intruder off the planet, or anything. Knuckles had read about these kinds of sealed doors, but had never actually seen one. He backed away from it and resumed examining the cave.

On the other side of the cave, Sonic was looking at broken rock and dirt and growing bored. Wearing earplugs was okay for a while, but it was lonesome not being able to talk to Knuckles. "I'd hate to be deaf," thought Sonic, idly shining his light over the wall. "Might be nice if you had to play with thrall spheres all the time, but mostly I ... hey ..." He froze, looking at the wall in the circle of his flashlight beam. Writing. Loads of writing.

Sonic picked up a pebble and threw it at Knuckles. It hit him in the back and he turned. Sonic motioned to the wall, and Knuckles walked up, shining his flashlight on it. Then he saw the inscription. He frowned, and Sonic saw his lips move as he read the writing to himself. Sonic wished he could hear it.

Knuckles reached up and brushed off dust, revealing more of the script. Sonic followed suit, and they realized that the entire north wall was covered in the ancient engraving. Knuckles looked at it, then waved at Sonic to attract his attention. He pointed at the wall, and mimicked writing it all down.

Sonic rolled his eyes at the amount of work this would take, then mimed taking a photo.

Knuckles grinned and nodded-photographing the wall was much easier. He pointed at the hole in the ceiling, and Sonic nodded-it was time to leave. They had found what Knuckles was after.

* * *

As   
the sun reached noon, Shadow flashed down the Speed Highway, weaving in   
and out of cars, keeping to roads with less traffic. He had forgotten   
the glory of speed; skating with his hoverskates on high, each stride   
propelling him twenty feet, the wind stinging his organic eye and   
tearing at his spines.

He was dismayed to find his muscles were weak and soft from so long without exercise, and he was determined to strengthen himself again. So he sprinted mile after mile, taxing the muscles of his organic half, while the machinery of his robot half worked without tiring.

The sunlight was almost too much for him to bear, so he set his robot eye to its heaviest filter and kept his organic eye closed when possible. One thing he had forgotten was how hot it was in the direct sunlight. His black fur and metal soaked in the heat, and from time to time he had to stop under an overpass in the shade to cool off.

Despite the discomfort, he would rather be out here, free, than trapped underground, where the air and companionship were growing increasingly stale. He didn't let himself think about Mecha. He would have to deal with him again soon enough.

He stopped for a rest under a bridge, and found he had stopped next to a police car which was pulled over on the shoulder, radaring traffic. The policeman stared at Shadow, and Shadow stared back. Black uniform. Dark glasses. The word GUN emblazoned on the shoulder.

Shadow had a vivid mental image of a human in that same uniform bending over Maria with a gun.

He placed his metal hand on the hood of the car to steady himself. A white-hot rage was pouring through him, along with an unreasoning urge to attack this car and this human. He remembered this organization catching him, locking him in stasis, then trying to exterminate him when he escaped. The satisfaction of planning to destroy them all ... the shock of finding he had no choice in the matter ...

The ARK had been stopped, but his hatred of GUN had not vanished. It had been forgotten in the face of other matters. His memories may be hazy, but he had not forgotten what GUN had done to him.

The officer reached for his radio, and Shadow watched him. If Shadow was smart, he would flee the Speed Highway and make himself scarce for a while. But Shadow's hatred and thirst for action held him beside the car. Let the man report him. Let GUN come after him. As Shadow, he had laughed at them. As Mekion, he could frag anything they sent after him, for his metal spines were razor-sharp. And in the end, he had the orange chaos emerald in his right hand. He could vanish any time he wanted. What was it they had called him? The ultimate lifeform? He would show GUN the meaning of the phrase.

The officer finished speaking into his radio, then opened the door of his car and got out, pistol drawn. Shadow watched him, eyes narrowed, a scornful smile twisting his lips.

"Who are you?" said the officer.

Shadow shrugged. "Who do you think I am?"

The cop looked him up and down. "Your description matches that of Shadow, the escaped prisoner from Prison Island."

"Shadow was half-robot?" said Shadow, feigning shock. "I thought he died."

The officer looked uncertain. "He was reported missing, not dead. Are you Shadow?"

The black hedgehog grinned. "If I was, what makes you think I'd tell you?"

The officer stared at him, his expression hardening into a glare. "Shadow, you are under arrest. I'd advise you to come quietly."

"It stopped the ARK and saved Rio Del Fuego from invasion," Shadow hissed. "Doesn't that count for anything?"

The officer was moving toward him, circling the patrol car. "Sonic Hedgehog was responsible in both cases. Hands where I can see them."

Shadow didn't move, but his fingers curled around his chaos emerald. "GUN will regret this." He waited until the officer was nearly within arm's reach, then said, "Chaos control!"

Time stood still. The cars on the Speed Highway froze-the officer stopped moving-all sounds fell silent. Shadow was now the only moving thing in the world. He spun and ran out into the road, weaving between cars and laughing to himself. On future days off, he would definitely visit Sapphire City to harass GUN.

* * *

Metal  
Sonic emerged from the training rooms to find the entire base lit from   
end to end. From somewhere he could hear a rhythmic whooshing sound,   
like a flamethrower. What in the world? What was Shadow thinking? This   
many lights put out a sizeable energy signature, easily visible to the   
scanners of a Mecha-bot.

"Shadow, have you lost your mind?" he said over the network. The message was not received, and returned to him.

Mecha stopped dead. Shadow was gone. He looked down at Aleda, who he was carrying in the crook of one arm. She looked back at him, innocent. She didn't understand Mecha's sudden blinding shock. After two and a half months of dogging Mecha's heels, Shadow had abandoned him. Mecha had grown so accustomed to his slave's attention that discovering he was gone was unnerving. Mecha didn't know whether to feel glad, or worry. And what was that sound?

He strode down a hall and around a corner, and saw Nox behaving in his worst possible way. Nox ran down the hall, leaped into the air and turned into a fireball, flashing down the hall in midair. He struck the floor, bounced and uncurled, becoming a chao once more. Then he turned and ran back the other way, again turning into a shooting fireball. The floor and wall were covered in black scorch marks, the air was full of smoke, and the chaos field was so disturbed that Mecha felt it beating against his body like stormy water. He had never seen Nox do anything like this, and stared in dumb amazement as the chao continued launching himself into the air in flames.

At last he recovered his voice. "Nox! What are you doing?"

The black chao flung him a defiant look. "Shadow left and wouldn't take me. So I'm being bad." He flashed down the hall with a whoosh.

Mecha pointed to the floor beside him. "Nox, stop that and come here."

Nox stuck out his tongue. "I don't have to do what you say. I'm being bad. Shadow never, ever lets me go fireball!" He shot away from Mecha.

Aleda watched him in fascination, and Mecha couldn't help but admire Nox's power as well. Elemental abilities had not been included in his chao research.

As Nox shot back toward him, Mecha pounced and caught the chao in his free hand. Nox squirmed as Mecha lifted him, and Mecha said, "Stop struggling or I will be forced to hurt you. Shadow is not here to protect you."

Nox went limp and looked at Mecha through narrowed eyes. "You're laughing at me. Stop it!"

"I do not laugh," said Mecha without expression. Inwardly he was very amused, and it nearly overflowed onto his face. "Where has Shadow gone?"

"Sapphire City," said Nox. "He was going to run around, and he made me stay here, so I could tell you where he went."

"Sapphire City!" Mecha exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. "What induced him to go there?"

"The Speed Highway," said Nox. "Why? What's so bad about it?"

Mecha shook his head. "The fool! Sapphire City is where GUN is headquartered. He escaped from their prison facility, and they have been hunting him ever since. Sapphire City is also the place where Robo Knux was last sighted."

"Oh," said Nox. "That's bad. Can you put me down now?" Mecha stooped and set him on the floor, and Nox looked at the blackened hallway. "I guess I'm done being bad."

"Good," said Mecha. "Clean up this mess and turn off all the lights. I must try to contact Shadow."

* * *

Zephyer  
and Tails sat in the passage outside the thrall sphere room, each   
sitting on a chunk of rock from the collapsed ceiling. Tails was holding  
the green chaos emerald, not trying to use it so much as admiring it,   
letting the light strike rainbows from its facets. Beyond them, in the   
sphere room, they could hear the distant hum of the spheres and the   
sound of Sonic and Knuckles using brooms to sweep centuries of dust off   
the wall.

"Hey Zephyer," said Tails, "how come you can't glide?"

"Knuckles won't teach me," she replied, picking up a lump of broken blue crystal from the floor. "He says there's some things that girls shouldn't do, blaw blaw. He just likes lording it over me."

"Maybe he doesn't want you to get hurt," said Tails. "Sonic isn't real wild about me using the Chaos Emeralds."

Zephyer snorted. "Yeah, just because they have more experience, they get all protective." She ran her fingers over the broken crystal. "Really? Sonic doesn't want you learning about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Well, he never actually said so," said the fox, ears flattening, "but he's not thrilled when Knuckles starts working with me."

"He might be jealous," said Zephyer, stroking the blue crystal. Its glow brightened. "He knows so much about the emeralds, he might want to teach you himself."

"I didn't think of that." Tails looked at Zephyer's crystal and blinked. It was growing, changing. The broken edges were softening, and little points were sprouting from both ends. "Zeff," he said, staring.

"This is why Knuckles won't teach me to glide," said Zephyer, teasing the crystal with her fingers. "He says I can pull crystal, and that's enough. The jerk." She didn't seem aware of the small miracle happening in her hands. The lump of broken blue glass had become a growing mass of crystal points like an opening flower, growing longer and thicker by the second.

She stopped stroking it, held it up and examined it. "Too bad, this one is flawed. See how the crystal grows crooked right here?" She touched a jagged strip of dull blue glass that ran down the side of the crystal. She set the now-glowing crystal on the floor and picked up another.

"Hey Zeff," said Tails, "could you do that to a chaos emerald?"

She tilted her head to one side, looking at the gem in his hands. "I don't think I should mess with those. What if I unbalanced them by accident?"

"Why, what happens when they unbalance?" asked Tails, looking warily at the gem.

"Bad stuff," said Zephyer, picking up a tiny shard and stroking it with a fingertip. "When they're unbalanced they repel each other. We think that's why my people aren't on Mobius anymore."

"What? Why?" Tails's eyes widened.

Zephyer shrugged. "We don't really know what happened, but nine-tenths of the echidna population got stranded on a desert planet for no apparent reason. I'm one of their descendents, yanked here by an experiment of Mecha's."

There came the noise of someone scrambling over the rocks in the passage behind them, and Knuckles emerged, followed by Sonic. Both were covered in grime and wearing triumphant looks. A camera was slung around Knuckles's neck, and Sonic carried two brooms. Sonic had been dispatched earlier to retrieve this equipment, which he did via Tails's emerald. Both were still wearing earplugs, which was made apparent when Knuckles hefted the camera and said too loudly, "Got it all on film. I'll dump it to disk and we can translate it all."

Zephyer motioned to her ear, and Knuckles peeled the wax out of his ears. Sonic did the same. "Sorry," said Knuckles. "Anyway, this will take some work. I've never seen this dialect before."

"What is it?" asked Sonic. "Hick echidnaen? 'This hayre is what thay call a kay-yos em-huh-ruld ...'" He ducked a backhanded blow from Knuckles.

"No," growled Knuckles as Zephyer and Tails laughed. "Like I said, I don't know what it is. Come on, let's head back."

"I hope it really is something good," said Sonic as they trooped out of the passage into the light of day. "What if it was a genealogy?"

"Sealed in a room with thrall spheres?" said Knuckles. "Somehow I doubt it."

As they walked, Tails looked down at the chaos emerald. Was it the daylight, or had it actually dimmed when they left the cave? He looked at it as they passed under the shadow of some trees, but it was hard to tell.

He said nothing about it until they reached the house, however. Then he quietly shut himself in a closet for a moment to view the emerald in darkness. It was dimmer. A lot dimmer. The last time he had seen a chaos emerald darken, it had been drained of its power by Perfect Chaos. For this one to die on its own ...

The fox left the closet and padded into Knuckles and Zephyer's room, where Knuckles's computer was set up. Knuckles was plugging the camera into the computer, and Sonic and Zephyer were talking and laughing. Under the cover of their chatter, Tails edged up to Knuckles and held up the emerald. "Does this look darker to you?"

Knuckles turned his head and gazed at the emerald. After a second he took it and turned it over. "No," he whispered. "Not now. Not again."

Those five words scared Tails worse than all of Robotnik's machines combined. He felt his tails bush out. "Why? What's happening?"

Knuckles jumped up and motioned to Zephyer. "You, me, Hidden Palace, now."

Zephyer and Sonic looked at the dying emerald in his fist. "Oh no," said Sonic through his teeth.

Zephyer said something in Old Mobian that sounded like a swear, and she and Knuckles hit the door running.

Sonic and Tails exchanged glances. "What're we waiting for?" said Sonic. "Come on!" He bolted after the echidnas, and Tails followed him, burning with guilt.

Had he caused the emerald to die? Just because he couldn't use it? What if it made the island crash?

Feeling sick to his stomach, Tails ran for the teleporter plate with the rest of them, and the emerald in Knuckles's fist kept weakening.

* * *

The  
chase in Sapphire City was more intense than Shadow had anticipated.   
After only twenty minutes, GUN had helicopters, robots with riot shields  
and soldiers with capture nets awaiting him around every bend. Shadow   
laughed at them and stopped time when they came too close, eluding   
capture and driving his pursuers wild. They chased him the length of   
Sapphire City with civilian traffic scattering in confusion around them.

Shadow's fun diminished when he realized he was running out of road. Up ahead the Speed Highway dead-ended, with a final offramp spiraling down to the ground-level streets. He couldn't turn back, because the highway was now riddled with police. But running on the ground meant more obstacles and less speed.

On second thought, it meant their game of tag would become hide and seek.

Shadow leaped onto the railing and grinded down the length of the offramp, sparks flying from the metal-plated arches of his shoes. He reached the bottom pushing ninety, landed on his hoverskates and flashed away.

Due to the clearing of the highway, the low roads were choked with traffic. Shadow ran between the cars and along the sidewalks, but he had to slow down to avoid collisions. It was time to find a hiding place. He sprinted into an alley, pressed himself to the wall and waited.

A helicopter whirred over, then two policemen ran by on the sidewalk, guns drawn. Shadow smiled. He stepped away from the wall, planning to double back, when a third policeman passed by and looked down the alley.

Their eyes met-then Shadow was gone, racing in the opposite direction and calling a Chaos Control as he went.

He needed a better hiding place, somewhere to actually conceal himself for a long period where he would be impossible to find. But where? Underground? He didn't fancy hiding under one of those grates marked 'sewer'. And he didn't want to leave yet, either, for he was having the time of his life. He wanted to outwit GUN.

Shadow emerged on another street and saw a wide asphalt parking lot spread before him. It was filled with cars, and a mass of people were entering a large building nearby. Of course, he could lose himself in the crowd! He zoomed in with his robot eye and swept the people. Mostly humans, but there were a few Mobians among them. He wouldn't stand out too much.

He darted across the street, through the parking lot, and slowed to a sedate walk as he fell in with the people entering the building. His semi-robot body attracted a few stares, but no one pointed or shouted. It seemed GUN was reluctant to inform the general public about him. Would they blame his exploits on Sonic again? The thought made him smile. Sonic had taken the heat last time, but he and his friends had cleared his name. Too bad. If Sonic had been locked up, he wouldn't have been there that night to smash Mecha until Mecha surrendered.

He entered the building and breathed the air-conditioning. It smelled like some sort of bland air freshener, vague and pleasant. He followed the crowd through the entry room, where many people were greeting each other and laughing, and into a huge, high-ceilinged room lined with long chair-like benches.

Shadow watched the people around him for a moment. It seemed they were sitting anywhere they chose. He elected to sit in the rear seat in the back corner, where he could beat a quick escape if he had to. He could hear the muffled thump of helicopters circling overhead.

He sat and peered around the room, looking for exits and wondering what sort of place this was. The ceiling was supported by carved wooden arches, and at the front of the room was a raised platform with a wooden stand in the center. All the benches were arranged facing it. The windows were made of swirled colored glass with pictures in them, and there was a big sign like cross-hairs carved in wood on the back wall. All the people seemed happy to be there; he had never seen humans smile and laugh so much. He slouched a little lower in his seat and watched the doors for any sign of police.

His view was blocked by a young man, his wife and their children, a little boy and girl. They sat down a few feet away from him on his bench, and he had to stretch to see the door around them. No police so far. He watched it, ignoring everything else, until people stopped entering and the doors were closed. Then a man in a robe stepped up to the wooden stand on the platform and began to speak. All the people fell silent and listened.

Shadow listened for a while, but he didn't understand much of what he heard. It was religious teachings of some kind, and some of it reminded him of fragments of conversations he had had with Maria. She had read many books and explained religion and God in ways he understood, but this place and this human speaker were utterly foreign to him.

His attention wandered, and he began to watch the family seated beside him. The father was short and stocky, with a mop of auburn hair, while the mother was slim and pretty with black hair and eyes. They were trying to listen and watch their children at the same time.

The little boy was bent over a sheet of paper with a pencil in his fist, but the little girl wanted to look at things and talk. It wasn't long before she spotted Shadow. She put her fingers in her mouth and stared at him. He tried not to stare back, but he disliked being looked at, and kept glancing at her. She was about four, with blond hair and blue eyes, and skin so white it was nearly transparent.

At last he gave up trying to ignore her, and turned and stared at her with both eyes. She flinched and drew back when she saw his robot eye, and as she moved, his brain screamed and he dug his fingers into the cushion on the bench. She looked like Maria when she did that. Maria had the same mannerism when something surprised or frightened her.

He kept his eyes on the back of the bench in front of him. He was afraid to look at her again. Afraid that he might see Maria again. Maria was long dead. He couldn't go around resurrecting her in every young human who bore the same physical characteristics. He didn't need to reopen those wounds.

He sneaked another glance at the girl, and saw her father had positioned himself to block her view of Shadow. He flicked Shadow the barest of uneasy glances.

Shadow stared at the pastor without seeing him. So what if the girl looked like Maria? She was a human, with parents who would protect her from the likes of him. Who would trust a semi-robot black hedgehog who had the entire military after him? He looked down at his mismatched hands, one finely muscled and clothed in fur, and the other made of sculpted metal. If he was in their place, he wouldn't trust him, either.

Outside the hunt moved on, and the sounds of circling helicopters faded. Shadow fidgeted, wondering how long this lecture lasted. He had hidden long enough, and it was time to get out and run, putting as much distance as possible between himself and that little girl. But he didn't want to leave until everyone else did, or he would attract unwanted attention. So he waited, interlacing his fingers and wondering how Mecha was doing.

At last the pastor ended his lecture and the service was over. Everyone rose, and a murmur of talking filled the room. Shadow stood and peered toward the doors, which were open again, allowing people to leave. He would take it slow, let the crowd shield him, until he was in the parking lot and find out where GUN was ...

Something touched him and he cringed backwards. The little girl had escaped her father and was standing beside Shadow, petting his furry arm. He stared at her, frozen, unable to move or think. It was like having a butterfly land unexpectedly on his hand; rare and fragile, she graced Shadow with her touch and he scarcely dared breathe. Curse her for doing this to him! He felt his brain switch tracks to the one he had used with Maria and Nox: gruff and gentle, keeping his movements slow and non-threatening.

Her father turned and saw his daughter at the end of the row with Shadow, and saw the look of consternation on Shadow's face. He hurried to them and picked up the little girl. Shadow expected the man to snort and turn away, but to his amazement the man held out a hand. "Sorry about that, Kitty has a mind of her own. I'm Shawn Roberts."

Shadow looked at his extended hand, then slowly lifted his own natural hand and shook it. "I'm Shadow," he whispered. "Not many children are brave enough to approach me."

Shawn stooped and studied Shadow's face. "Shadow?" he whispered. "I'll be darned." Before Shadow could make sense of this, Shawn added, "Why don't you come home with us for lunch?"

Shadow gazed at him, wondering if this was some kind of trap-what if this man turned him in? Shawn seemed to read his thoughts, because he said quietly, without moving his lips, "Otherwise GUN will find you when you leave."

Shadow's eyes darted to the windows as another helicopter flew over.

"All right," he said.


	6. Chapter 6

Hidden Palace was quiet and tranquil, as it had been for millennia, when the group of Mobians burst in and ran to the Master Emerald. Sonic noticed something and skidded to a stop on the marble floor, and Tails almost fell over trying to keep from hitting him from behind.

"Tails, look!" Sonic exclaimed, pointing.

Tails followed Sonic's gaze and saw the green Super Emerald, the chaos emerald's counterpart, was glowing an intense yellow-green. "What's that mean?"

"No clue." Sonic hurried to the Master Emerald's pedestal, and Tails followed.

Knuckles and Zephyer were facing each other across the three-foot-wide Master Emerald, their hands pressed to its flat top. "Master Emerald," said Knuckles, "regulate power exchange between emeralds."

The huge jewel's glow began to throb, and they all turned and looked at the green Super Emerald and the green chaos emerald, which Knuckles had set on the floor. The super was glowing brighter and brighter, while the chaos gem continued to darken.

"What's happening?" asked Tails, watching.

"No idea," said Knuckles.

Suddenly there was a surge of chaos energy that knocked all of them to their knees, while their fur stood on end. The Super Emerald's shape melted like wax, flared up in green light and vanished. The chaos emerald on the floor began to glow again, and the chaos field in the room subsided to normal levels. The Master stopped pulsing, and all four of them stared at the empty pedestal where the Super had been.

"Dang!" said Sonic, which summed up the feelings of everyone.

Knuckles and Zephyer stepped off the dais, and they walked to the empty pedestal. Tails had never examined an empty pedestal, and was surprised to see that the hollow where the gem had rested was ceramic, with gleaming green wires running through it. His eyes followed them up to four round knobs around the rim, which would have touched the gem while it was there.

"Knuckles," said Tails, "is this some kind of machine?"

Knuckles didn't answer, but he was frowning. He reached in and touched the wires and nodes, then stooped and ran a hand down the pedestal's side.

"A machine?" said Zephyer faintly, staring at the nodes. She stepped to the nearest pedestal, which contained the white Super. "This has the same attachments."

"They all do," said Sonic, hurrying from pedestal to pedestal. "Knux, you never told me Hidden Palace was a machine!"

"I didn't know," said Knuckles, running his hands over the carved panels on the pedestal's side. "I haven't seen one of these empty since before I got into mechanics."

"So what does it do?" asked Tails. He picked up the chaos emerald and held it in two fingers, afraid it might die again. "And where'd the Super go?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," said Knuckles. He hooked one of his knuclaws into a crack and yanked off a side panel with a clatter. Inside were wires, conductors, conduits, and bizarre glowing things that none of them recognized. It was full of dust and the wires had tarnished. Everything ran down into the marble floor and vanished through three square holes.

There was a long silence, broken by Zephyer. "And you've never seen any writings about this?"

"No," said Knuckles. "Except for one wall in a dialect I've never seen." He rose and replaced the panel, which wouldn't quite stay. "Until I translate it ... Tails, don't handle that emerald."

Tails handed it hastily to Sonic. Knuckles strode out of the cavern and they followed him, Tails with head hanging and tails dragging the floor.

* * *

Shadow  
sat in the backseat of the Roberts' minivan, gazing out the window at   
passing traffic. They passed a roadblock surrounded by GUN personnel,   
who let cars go through but stopped pedestrians. Helicopters were   
circling overhead, and radar planes flew parallel to the roads. The hunt  
was still on, and Shadow passed through their midst, completely   
unnoticed.

"They don't like you much, do they?" said Shawn.

"No," whispered Shadow.

Shawn's wife Patty turned and looked at the hedgehog. "Did you commit some kind of crime?"

"No," whispered Shadow bitterly. "They imprisoned me because I was an experiment. I escaped, and they've been after me ever since."

"That's terrible!" said Patty, looking compassionate.

The children were belted into carseats in the middle row of the van, and they had not taken their eyes off Shadow the whole trip. Now Kitty said, "Why do you whisper?"

He touched his throat. "I was injured and lost my voice." He tried not to look at Kitty too much, for every time he did, he saw Maria in her. It brought the pain of his loss back as if she had died yesterday, and he didn't want to grieve for her right now.

The little boy, Steven, asked, "Can you shoot lasers from your glowing eye?"

"No," whispered Shadow, accidently smiling. "It's for enhanced vision only."

"What's enhanced vision mean?"

His mother said, "It lets him see better, Stevie."

Shadow looked out the window as they left the busy streets and turned down a residential road. The houses were old and multiple-floored, with tall mature trees and spacious yards. Shawn pulled into the driveway of one of these houses, behind four other cars.

Shadow climbed out and breathed the air, listening to the quiet, as his hosts unbuckled their kids from the carseats. Then he followed them to the front door.

Inside the house it was dark and cool, and he heard voices somewhere further back inside. Patty led the kids down a hall to the right, and Shawn motioned to Shadow and led him deeper into the house, toward the voices. "We share the house with my brother's family. They'll want to meet you, too." He gave Shadow an odd look.

Shadow had never been inside a human dwelling before, and looked with fascination at the furniture and fixtures that were a little too big for a Mobian to use comfortably. It was as alien to him as the church had been, but in a less formal way. This was how Maria would have lived, and Shadow was willing to accept it for her memory's sake.

They entered a dining room at the rear of the house, where four humans were preparing lunch. There was a man with red hair who Shawn introduced as Paul, his brother. His wife was Bo, and the two kids with them were Jacob and Stacy, both in their pre-teens.

"Mitch is out back," added Paul. "He's the oldest. Nice meeting you, Shadow." He shook the hedgehog's hand.

Shadow looked around at the group, feeling increasingly awkward under the frank appraisal of so many eyes. "Thanks for helping me," he whispered, "but I really should be going."

"No!" said Shawn, looking alarmed. "Not yet! I wanted to talk to you about ..." He looked at his brother and drew a breath. "About, well, Gerald and Maria."

How dare he speak their names! Shadow had carried their memories in his head so long that hearing a complete stranger mention them was like sacrilege. He glared at Shawn, spines bristling. "What about them?"

Paul looked at Shawn, too. "You didn't explain it to him?"

"I was a little pressed for time, all right?" Shawn retorted. He turned to Shadow. "We changed our last name to Roberts when Ivo Robotnik committed his atrocities. Being related to a slaughtering dictator is a smear on the family name, and people were shunning us."

"Your last name is Robotnik?" whispered Shadow, staring.

"Was," said Paul. "We're the Roberts now."

"Gerald Robotnik is my great-grandfather," said Shawn. "You're the only person still living who knew him and Maria. You're ... almost family."

The experience was surreal. Shadow looked around at the humans, noting their stocky bodies and red hair. No wonder Kitty looked like Maria-she was Maria's third or fourth cousin. Half of him couldn't believe it, but his other half scolded him for not realizing that of course, Ivo Robotnik must have extended family somewhere.

He sat down at the dining room table. "What do you want to know?"

* * *

Metal  
Sonic was growing anxious. He did not allow himself to think of it as   
anxiety, however. He rationalized his worry as reasonable concern about   
an expensive project that had entered unexpectedly hazardous conditions.  
But as hours passed and there was no word from Shadow, Mecha's worry   
grew.

It was fueled by the jammed transmission channels in Sapphire City. All channels had a blocking signal scrambling them, and no messages could pass in or out of the city. The city was not under invasion, and all Mecha could surmise was that GUN was on high alert. They would only do that if they suspected a threat. Or were hunting Shadow and cutting him off from outside help.

There was nothing Mecha could do except wait, so wait he did. Hours ticked by and he retried the channel every ten minutes. He said nothing of this to Nox.

Nox sensed his worry and asked him about it, but Mecha wouldn't answer him. Nox should learn to keep his prying empath mind to himself.

Aleda, on the other hand, knew nothing of her master's turmoil. She toddled at Mecha's heels as he paced the halls, laughing and cooing to herself, falling over every few steps and getting up again. Mecha was in no mood to handle her right now, and ignored her presence until he happened to look down, and saw Nox scampering along, teasing her and playing with her.

Mecha grabbed Aleda and held her out of reach. "Nox," he hissed, "I suggest you find other ways to amuse yourself."

"I was just playing!" said the chao, an injured look on his face. "Why can't I play with her? She's the only other chao I've been near since the ARK!"

Mecha knew he was being unreasonable and saw no reason to change. "Leave."

Nox sighed and slouched away into the darkness of the base.

Once he was gone, Mecha cupped Aleda in both hands. She was gazing at him, silent for once, as if trying to understand why he had punished Nox. "He annoys me," Mecha told her. "He is just like his master-irritating and uncontrollable."

Aleda continued to stare at him, and Mecha scowled. "I have done nothing wrong. You are too young to understand." She lowered her head and heaved the kind of sigh that precedes tears. Mecha's disgust in her intensified, and he set her on the floor, resuming pacing and hammering the Sapphire City network.

Five minutes later Aleda began to wail, seated where Mecha had left her. He set his teeth and let her cry, although the noise annoyed him worse than anything Nox had done. But the longer Aleda cried the louder she became, and Mecha grew angry. A battle of wills was what she wanted? Fine. He turned and strode down the hall, turned a corner, entered a room at random and slammed the door.

She continued to cry, although it was muffled by the walls between them. Mecha continued pacing, trying to ignore her and concentrate on Shadow. But now that he was away from Aleda, he began to feel guilty. She was his chao ... he shouldn't let her cry like that. What was he teaching her?

His thoughts were interrupted by a silent swell of chaos energy that rippled through the base. Shadow had teleported back. Mecha burst out the door, scans sweeping the area, and halted. Aleda's crying had stopped.

Mecha strode around the corner and saw Shadow had picked her up, and was looking around in a daze. "Shadow!" said Mecha.

The hedgehog turned. "Hello Master," he said, holding out the chao. "I think you dropped this."

Mecha may have been angry at Aleda, but he couldn't stand to see someone else handling her. He snatched her away from Shadow. "Where were you? You should not have ventured into the open! You could expose us all!"

Shadow lowered his head. He was drained, exhausted, and had no energy left to oppose Mecha. "Yes Mecha. I was in Sapphire City. I needed to run."

"Sapphire City!" snarled Mecha, as if he hadn't known. "Of all the foolhardy locations! GUN is headquartered there, need I remind you? It is also Robo Knux's last charted location!"

"I know," said Shadow, staring at the floor. "I saw them both." He turned and walked down the hall in the direction of his chamber.

"Stop!" said Mecha, clenching a fist. "I did not give you permission to leave!"

Shadow looked over his shoulder. "Master, if you want to scold me, then scold me, but I must lie down." He continued walking, and Mecha stood there, teeth bared, amazed at Shadow's insubordination. But he wanted to know about GUN, and especially about Robo Knux. He looked down at Aleda, who was whimpering in his hand, rubbing her eyes. He wanted to punish her and comfort her at the same time. He strode after Shadow and carried the chao against him, where she burrowed her head against his cold metallic skin.

Shadow was lying on his cot with one arm flung over his eyes when Metal Sonic entered. Mecha resumed scolding him for his foolishness, threatened to reactivate Mekion's control to increase Shadow's obedience, and snarled about GUN blocking transmission channels.

Shadow replied, "Yes Mecha," mechanically, letting the tirade wash over him. He was too tired to care. He knew that Mecha's anger was a good sign, for he had been alone all day and was acting like his old nasty self, instead of brooding. But Shadow did wish that Mecha would shut up and let him rest for a while.

Finally Mecha's anger burned itself out, and curiosity took its place. For one thing, why was Shadow so tired? Surely it wasn't the teleport this time. He sat down on his own cot and watched the black hedgehog, who was breathing deeply. "Shadow," he said quietly, "what did you do in Sapphire City?"

The corner of Shadow's mouth twitched in the ghost of a smile. "I baited GUN."

"Is that all?"

Shadow lifted his arm off his eyes and looked at the android, who was watching him with the little blue-gray chao in his lap. She was peering into the engine intake in Mecha's belly and reaching in to touch the fan blades.

Shadow recounted his adventure, beginning with the police car. Mecha made no comment until Shadow told about meeting a human family and visiting their home, only to discover that they were Robotnik's relatives.

Mecha's mouth dropped open. "Dr. Robotnik has relatives? I've never seen anything about them in his records!"

"I don't think they like him much," said Shadow.

Mecha pondered this revelation for a moment, then waved it aside. "You said you saw Robo Knux?"

"Yes," said Shadow. "After the meal, the Roberts made me tell them everything I could remember about Gerald and Maria. I ... didn't want to, but ... anyway, as I was talking, the back door opened and the oldest son came in. He was covered in grease. He was going to ask his father something, but when he saw me he froze and stared. I stared back, and Robo Knux stepped through the door behind him."

Mecha's claws dug into the mattress, but he said nothing.

Shadow continued, gazing at the ceiling, "Robo Knux was also covered in grease, as if he was being maintained. He saw me, turned around and walked out. Through the window I saw him standing in the yard, and he kept looking at the house and rubbing his jaw as if thinking. I didn't like that. The boy turned and left, too, and I jumped up and told the Roberts had to go. I teleported then and there."

"That explains your weariness," said Mecha. "A shock to the nervous system catalyzes adrenaline, and when that wears off the body must rest."

"But what about Robo Knux?" said Shadow. "Could he track me to you?"

"No," said Mecha. "But you must not go back there. He would destroy you to annoy me."

Shadow nodded and closed his eye again. "If Robotnik's family doesn't like Robotnik, why are they acting as support for one of his units?"

"Robo Knux went rogue years ago," said Mecha, pulling Aleda's paws out of his intake and setting her aside. "It stands to reason that he would locate suitable allies elsewhere. Perhaps the humans do not know who he is."

"Maybe. It gives me the creeps." Shadow rolled onto his side. "May I rest a while, Master?"

"Yes," said Mecha, rising and lifting Aleda. "Do not call me that."

Shadow didn't answer, and Mecha departed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

It  
was late that night, and Knuckles was seated at the kitchen table with   
photographs spread out before him, studying the obscure script. The   
house was quiet, for everyone had gone to bed hours ago. He was   
beginning to feel a pressure behind his eyes that meant he needed sleep,  
but he was determined to work out how to read this dialect. It wasn't   
so different from the formal historical writings, but the spelling was   
weird, and some symbols seemed to convey sounds other than what he was   
used to.

He looked down at his notebook and reread what he had already copied down. It was a rhyme, and he had clumsily tried to make it rhyme in New Mobian, too, although the meter was off.

The caverns were dark as Miloth descended the stairs  
Deep was the island passage and deeper still his cares  
He had read the future and it terrified him  
Disaster danger and death for all of them  
He knew they would laugh but still in the end  
All the echidnas were his to defend.

Knuckles had looked up Miloth in the ancient records. He was the Guardian during some vague disaster, of which there were several in the Floating Island's history, and was about eight generations removed from Knuckles himself. If this text was reliable, then he had also been a seer of some kind (perhaps he had mastered Chaos Sight)? Maybe the rest of the inscription detailed the disaster. Knuckles had the uneasy feeling it was related to the thrall spheres, for why had it been in the room with them?

He copied the script for the next section into his notebook, marked the verbs, nouns, predicates and other grammar forms, and carefully copied the words in their New Mobian meanings to a fresh sheet of paper.

After another hour of slow, cautious work, he straightened up and stretched. The feeling of fatigue was growing, he was developing a headache, and the clock told him it was nearly 1 AM. He rubbed his eyes and reread the translated verse.

The Master Emerald lit Hidden Palace from within  
Ringed by Thrall Spheres placed to assist the gem  
In the absence of Super Emeralds. The Elders were there  
Each eye cold and angry as he entered their lair  
Miloth was Guardian by emerald selection not birth  
The Elders hated him scorned him and doubted his worth.

Thrall spheres in the absence of Super Emeralds? What? He read it again. Placed to assist the gem ... so could thrall spheres conduct chaos energy or something? Perhaps it was their shape ...

He mused about the writing inside the pedestals. He had always accepted that they were meant for the Super Emeralds, and had never considered placing another crystal in them.

Knuckles's brain was tired. He rose, stacked his papers and photos to one side, and dragged himself wearily to his room, pulling off his gloves and flexing his fingers. Zephyer was sound asleep, snoring softly as he stooped to pull off his shoes. He climbed under the blanket and lay looking at the ceiling, trying to stop thinking. But his brain kept reciting the poem, and chewing on the problem of a dying chaos emerald, and thrall spheres in the place of Super Emeralds.

As he was dozing off it hit him, and he sat up, half-inclined to wake Zephyer and tell her. The chaos emerald had been within earshot of the thrall spheres today, for you could hear them in the upper passage. What if the thrall sphere had forced the chaos emerald backwards, sucking its deposited power out of the Super Emerald? When the Master Emerald tried to moderate the power transfer, the Super had evaporated, and the chaos had grown very bright ... the chaos emerald had absorbed it!

At last, the solution to the problem that had bothered him for so long. The Super Emeralds were a copy of the Chaos Emeralds, their energy transmitted in a more ordered form by the Master Emerald. They only split from their hosts when all seven Chaos Emeralds were brought into Hidden Palace.

The thrall spheres reversed this process, making the two sets of gems merge again.

The concept would have melted the mind of anyone else, but Knuckles was used to the eccentricies of chaos gems. There was nothing too weird for them to do, and the echidnas had documented thousands of weirder things.

He lay down again, succumbing to weariness even under the thrill of discovery. He had figured something out ... so what kind of disaster was recorded in the rest of that old dialect? What kinds of things happened when the Supers were gone?

Knuckles was nearly asleep again when another unsettling thought surfaced from his subconscious. How long had Zephyer's people been on their desert planet? He opened his eyes and looked at his wife, peaceful and innocent in her slumber. He shouldn't wake her ... but he had to know. He reached over and stroked her hair. "Zeff," he whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. Surprised at how quickly she had awakened, he asked, "Zephyer, how long have your people been on your homeworld?"

She gazed at him a moment. "Vanilla." Then she rolled over and resumed snoring.

He smiled-she hadn't been awake at all. He'd worry about this in the morning. He lay down again for the third time, and ten minutes later was sound asleep.

* * *

Sonic was awakened the   
next morning by Tails rummaging around in his backpack, rustling items   
and jingling zippers. Sonic lifted his head and squinted. As usual when   
he and Tails visited the Floating Island, they were sleeping on the   
floor in Talon's room. Without Talon at home, Tails had unrolled his   
sleeping bag on the bed. (Sonic wasn't allowed to sleep there because he  
left quills in the mattress.) Sun was pouring in the window, gleaming   
on Tails's orange fur.

Tails saw Sonic's eyes were open and whispered, "Hey Sonic, where's the chaos emerald?"

"Side pocket," said Sonic, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Why?"

"I had a dream I could use it," said Tails unzipping a side pocket and pulling out the green gem. "I wanted to try it before I forgot how." He sat on his knees on the floor and stared into the emerald.

Sonic yawned, crawled out of his sleeping bag and pulled on his socks. He hoped Tails had figured it out this time, so Sonic could show him different ways to use it. It was frustrating when your best friend couldn't use your own favorite toy.

As Sonic finished buckling his shoes, Tails heaved a sigh and set the emerald aside. "It didn't work," he said, ears flattening. "I dreamed that if I held the emerald in my fingers and blinked at it while forcing my chaos field at it, it'd teleport me."

"I didn't think Knux wanted you messing with it?" said Sonic, standing up and stretching.

"Oh." Tails looked guilty. "I forgot."

"Eh, it's probably okay," said Sonic. "I doubt messing with an emerald would make it ... kill off a Super. Or whatever."

Tails reached for his own shoes, ears pricking up again. "Yeah, if I had done something, I'd have known it, right?"

"Right." Sonic watched as the young fox tied his shoes, his eyes lingering on the two tails. "Hey Tails ... um, what race are you? There's not other multi-tailed foxes out there, are there?"

Tails glanced at his tails and twitched them. "I'm just a fox." He frowned. "You think I could be from some race that can't use emeralds? But I can go super!"

"Let's ask Knux." Sonic trotted out of the room and Tails followed him, carrying the chaos emerald.

They found Knuckles and Zephyer on the front porch, sitting in lawn chairs and talking. As Sonic and Tails stepped out, Zephyer said, "Well, look who's decided to join the land of the living!"

"We can sleep in if we want," said Sonic. "This is vacation. We've got something to ask you."

"Yeah," said Tails, sitting on the porch railing. "Do you think me having two tails might stop me from using Chaos Emeralds?"

"I doubt it," said Knuckles. "I was just telling Zephyer, I think there's something bigger here than you not using chaos properly."

Sonic and Tails straightened, and Knuckles detailed his theory about Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds being the same type of energy translated into two types of matter, and how the thrall spheres had something to do with it.

Sonic rubbed his head. "How do you come up with this stuff?"

"Practice," said Knuckles. "In that script I'm translating, there were no Super Emeralds, and they used thrall spheres instead. Which reminds me ..." He looked at Zephyer. "How long have your people been on your homeworld?"

Zephyer thought about it. "About seven hundred years, I think. Maybe a little more."

Knuckles jumped out of his chair, strode across the lawn and stood looking across the island. The other three watched him. "What's with him?" asked Tails.

"Good question," said Zephyer. "He must be figuring something out."

After a moment the echidna turned and walked back up on the porch, and stood looking at them. "The Guardian in those writings was named Miloth," he said hoarsely. His eyes had a glazed, stunned look. "He lived eight echidna generations ago. An echidna generation is ninety years, and eight generations is seven hundred and twenty years."

"What?" said Sonic, but Tails was good with numbers and understood. His eyes widened. "Knuckles, you're saying you know how Zephyer's people got to their world?"

Knuckles nodded. "Thrall spheres. But we have six Super Emeralds left, plus the green chaos emerald. I was thinking ... could we bring them back?"

It was Zephyer's turn to leap out of her chair and turn white. "You-you could?" she whispered. "You think so?"

"I need to translate the rest of the poem," said Knuckles, "but it might be possible. I need to learn how Hidden Palace actually works."

"I can help you!" said Tails. "Could I take apart the empty pedestal? Please?"

Knuckles gave him a sidelong look. "Maybe."

"Whoa, wait, hold on," said Sonic. "You're saying you can use Hidden Palace to build some kind of wormhole?"

Knuckles folded his arms. "The echidnas got from here to there somehow. Shouldn't the process work in reverse, too?"

"Knux, you don't know what you're doing," said Sonic. He motioned to Zephyer. "Mecha's the one who brought her here, not you. Remember? He built all that equipment for ripping flickies out of their home dimension. He's the one you should ask about this. He knows how to work portal stuff."

Everyone stared at him as if he lost his mind.

"Ask Mecha for help?" said Knuckles. "Yeah, right."

"You never know," said Sonic. "He might help you if you asked him."

"The guy is depressed and suicidal," said Knuckles, scowling. "He wouldn't help us if we were the last people on Mobius."

"It's worth a shot," said Sonic, shrugging. "None of us have ever built a wormhole before."

Knuckles snorted, turned and went in the house.

Zephyer looked at Sonic, who's spines were bristling despite his best efforts to keep them smooth. "Sorry about that. Maybe you ought to go run around."

"Fine." Sonic jumped off the porch, hit the lawn and was gone, pelting up the trail toward the upland paths. Tails shook his head and ran after Sonic, carrying the chaos emerald.

Zephyer stood looking after them, her head whirling with the amount of information she was trying to absorb. Her people had been transported to the desert planet, and now she and Knuckles possibly had the means to bring them back. She might see her mother and father again. She might see her brothers again. What would they think when they found out that she was married; and not just to one of the Guardian line, but to the Guardian himself? The elders would pitch a fit, of course, but Knuckles had taken care of the legalities at their wedding ...

She gazed across the island, thinking of the sheer vastness of it. It would swallow the tiny echidna tribes. There were caves and tunnels that would suit them ... perhaps they should all be housed in Sandopolis until they were acclimated ...

If not for Mecha, Zephyer wouldn't be here. The realization was a mild shock. She had always hated him for dragging her here, then robotizing her with his spare test biometal. But then she had been derobotized, learned to love Mobius ... and had seen Mecha beaten, broken and defeated.

She had seen him lying on the ground, his metal skin eaten away by acid, shivering in silent agony. She had seen him later when Sonic and Knuckles had carried him to a nano-hospital for repairs. Mecha begged them over and over to kill him and put an end to his futile existence. Zephyer had lost her fear and hatred of Mecha that day. She had seen him humbled, and she pitied him.

Zephyer had heard that Mecha was depressed, but wondered if she could get through to him, persuade him, if only she could talk to him. Actually contacting him was a problem ... Shadow had called them, and they didn't have his frequency. Or ... maybe they did. The communicator logged the last five received calls.

She went inside and found Knuckles working over his translations again. Leaving him alone, she went to their room and took the communicator off its hook. She flipped it on and pressed a button to select the correct option on its tiny screen. The last call was an unknown frequency. She called it and waited for the red light on the side to turn green.

After several minutes it did, and Shadow's raspy whisper said cautiously, "Uh, hello?"

"Shadow?" said Zephyer. "This is Zephyer Echidna, Knuckles's wife. Could I speak to Mecha, please?"

There was a long pause, and she hoped he wasn't going to hang up on her. "Mecha is indisposed at the moment," whispered Shadow. "What did you want to speak to him about?"

She should have figured that Shadow was filtering all communications. Another over-protective guardian, she thought with an inner smile. "I need to talk to him about his Flicky Island experiments," she said. "Could you tell him that?"

There was another long pause. Shadow whispered, "I'll try."


	7. Chapter 7

The communicator's reception clicking had scared Shadow more than he cared to admit. He had never had anyone call him before, and for a few panicked seconds he was sure that Robo Knux had tracked him somehow. But hearing a female voice on the line calmed him. He knew Zephyer by sight, but had never spoken to her.

Now she wanted to ask Mecha about some experiments that Shadow knew nothing about. Shadow supposed he could ask Mecha about them, but Mecha was again plugged into the regeneration chamber and couldn't use a communicator. Shadow didn't want Mecha hurt again, not like after Tails and Knuckles had visited. But Zephyer had had nothing to do with Mecha's damage, and she was asking about things that had happened years ago.

Shadow trotted through the facility to the room with the regeneration chamber. As usual the room was pitch black except for the green lights inside the chamber itself, and Mecha's red eyes looked out at Shadow from among the hoses and tubes. Aleda was standing at the foot of the machine, and Shadow realized that Mecha had been talking to her, for they gave him the same annoyed look as he entered.

"Mecha," said Shadow, "there's a ... call for you."

Mecha raised one eyebrow. "You've been giving out your frequency now? I had no idea you were such a fool."

Shadow ignored this. "It's Zephyer Echidna from the Floating Island. She wants to ask you about your experiments on Flicky Island."

"She was one of them," muttered Mecha. "An accident, rather. Is she still connected?"

"Yes."

"Tell her I will not share any information regarding biometal."

Shadow lifted the com and repeated this.

Zephyer replied, "I didn't want to ask about that. Can I talk to Mecha himself?"

Shadow looked at Mecha, who closed his eyes a moment, then reopened them. "Hold the com for me." Shadow held the com up to Mecha's mouth, and the android said, "Greetings, Zephyer. I understand you are derobotized now."

"Hi Mecha," said Zephyer. "Yeah, I was derobotized last spring. Do you remember how you brought me to Mobius?"

"Yes," said Mecha. "Do not expect me to explain the process to you, however."

"I wanted to know if you thought you could do it again."

Mecha and Shadow exchanged a surprised glance. "You mean pull flickies out of their home dimension?" said Mecha.

"Not exactly," said Zephyer, hesitating. "I mean, create a wormhole that moved me to Mobius."

"You were an accident," said Mecha. "I never intended the pulse to have so much power, and it pulled through much dimensional debris. Like you."

"Could you do it again, though?"

"No," said Mecha. "It requires much specialized equipment, which you helped destroy. If it could be salvaged, I could duplicate the experiment, but thanks to you it is now twenty feet underwater."

"About that," said Zephyer, lowering her voice. "Knuckles found out how the echidnas vanished in the first place. There's these machines in Hidden Palace, and some ... other things. You're the only one who's ever built working dimension-jump technology."

"So you need my assistance," said Mecha ironically. "I must decline. Although it would amuse me greatly if you tried to open a portal yourself and dematerialized your island."

"You don't have to be such a jerk about it," snapped Zephyer. "If you helped us, we'd let you into Hidden Palace, and that's a dream come true for a mecha-bot, isn't it?"

Mecha didn't respond, but his eyes shifted from the com to the far wall.

Zephyer went on, "Well, think about it. Knux'll kill me for calling you. Have Shadow call back later and tell me what you decide, okay?"

"Affirmative," purred Mecha.

Zephyer disconnected, and Shadow flipped off the com. He drew a deep breath and let it out. Mecha continued to stare at the wall. "Leave me for a while, Shadow. I must consider this offer."

"You're going to accept a bribe?" said Shadow incredulously.

Mecha glared. "That is why I must think about it! Leave!"

Shadow obeyed, looking over his shoulder as he went. Mecha, visiting the Floating Island? But Sonic was there! Shadow closed the door behind him and stood in the darkness, worried and fearful, and wanting above all else to protect his Master.

* * *

Zephyer   
disconnected the com, turned to return it to its hook, and gasped to see  
Knuckles standing in the doorway. He wore a bemused expression.   
"Fraternizing with the enemy, now?"

"Sonic had the right idea," said Zephyer. "Mecha's the only one to ever mess with dimension technology, and I kind of wanted him on our side."

"Leviathan and the biotics tried it, too," said Knuckles, "but they never got it working right." He heaved a sigh. "I was thinking about calling up Mecha, myself, but you beat me to it. Maybe it's just as well. How did he treat you?"

"Cordially," said Zephyer, looking at the com. "I expected much worse. I, um, told him he'd get to visit Hidden Palace."

"I heard," said Knuckles with a grin. "I really should kill you for that, but I won't, because I'm nice."

"You sound like Chimera." Zephyer hung up the com. "They're supposed to call back later."

"I know," said Knuckles. "Will you do me a favor and fly the island south for a few hours? It's high time we got out of these latitudes."

"Okay," said Zephyer. "Keep an ear out for the com." She trotted out of the house, and Knuckles watched her fondly. When she wasn't driving him nuts, she was nearly tapping his thoughts. Talking to Mecha after everything Mecha had done to her? That took spunk.

He walked back in the kitchen and looked at his notebooks. If only she knew enough Old Mobian to help him with this sticky little translation ...

The communicator clicked, and Knuckles jumped. He hurried to his room, picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Knuckles?" said Shadow's whisper.

"Speaking," said Knuckles, and for some reason his heart began to hammer.

Shadow's whispering voice sounded despondent. "Mecha has accepted Zephyer's invitation. When should we arrive?"

Knuckles thought of all the research he still needed to do, then wondered with a shock if Mecha could help him with it. "Um ... this evening?"

"Tomorrow is better," said Shadow. "Morning, maybe?"

"Okay, how about nine?" said Knuckles.

"Affirmative," said Shadow, sounding like his Master. "In addition, could you please keep Sonic away from us? Mecha is almost stable, and seeing Sonic might ..." He trailed off.

Knuckles understood. "Yeah, I'll talk to him. See you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yes. Goodbye." Shadow signed off, leaving Knuckles gazing at the com with his heart still racing. A voice in his head was screaming, "You're letting Metal Sonic into the most secret of all secret places on your island! How big of a fool are you? This is Metal Sonic!"

Knuckles didn't handle anxiety very well. He hung up the com and went outside to smash something.

* * *

The  
rest of the day passed uneventfully. Metal Sonic finished having his   
tenth skin-coat applied, and locked himself in the training rooms with   
his chao while his hull hardened.

Shadow went to find Nox, and found the chao in a storage room, playing with a monstrous heap of metal and glass that had been E-123 Omega. Shadow had no recollection of Nox pulling the robot from the Annihilator, but the sight of it made Shadow's fur prickle. Omega's hull was crushed and punctured by Metal Sonic's dragon-like teeth, and most of the paint had been seared off. Although it had been Metal Sonic who activated Omega, Metal Sonic would not touch Omega now, and Nox was left to tinker with the machine when he was feeling unwanted.

He looked up as Shadow entered the room, and as Shadow picked him up, Nox said sadly, "We all danced in fire, didn't we?"

"Yes," said Shadow. He leaned against the wall and fondled Nox's soft imitation-spines. "We're visiting the Floating Island tomorrow. As soon as Mecha sees Sonic he'll spiral all over again, but what can I do?"

Nox sighed and rested his chin on Shadow's arm. "I don't know. But Mecha can't stay here forever. He's almost repaired ... you can't always keep him from seeing Sonic. Mecha doesn't like being babysat, anyway. He turned on Robotnik, and he'll turn on you."

Shadow's ears grew pointed, but he knew Nox was right. He couldn't always be Mecha's protector, but Shadow wasn't sure if Mecha had recovered enough to walk into the world unprotected.

* * *

The   
Floating Island cruised south, and when Sonic and Tails returned to the   
house at dinnertime, ravenous from running all day, Sonic was gratified   
to learn that Zephyer had invited Mecha to the island.

"But you can't go near him," Knuckles warned. "Shadow was adamant."

"If he doesn't pull anything, I won't have to," said Sonic. "But if he's in on all this, maybe you can build a wormhole that works."

* * *

Night  
drew on, and Mecha remained locked in the training chambers. Aleda was   
asleep in his arms, and he stroked her head, gazing at her innocent face  
and the rise and fall of her chest. He wasn't certain whether to take   
her with him the following day or not; he didn't want to display the   
weakness of affection before his former enemies. But he couldn't leave   
her all alone for an entire day.

He could stay here, of course ... but the prospect of visiting Hidden Palace was irresistible. He had laid eyes on the Master Emerald only twice in his entire existence, and the lure and lust for the power of the gem rose in him like a fungus. He thought of the moment when he had pulled in the chaos field and used it to construct the monstrous biometal body that he had used to fight Sonic, and he remembered using Chaos Control. That was the closest he had ever come to utilizing chaos power the way an organism did. He wondered if he could do it again.

Sitting there, Mecha exerted his mind and senses to pull the chaos field around him. He hadn't done it since his spirit had been broken, and he found it was harder than he remembered. Or was he still so weak that elementary chaos usage was beyond him?

Discouraged, he let the minuscule amount of power dissipate, and stroked Aleda some more.

* * *

At nine o' clock the next morning, Shadow teleported himself, Mecha and their chao to the Floating Island.

They appeared in Chaotix Central and stood where they had landed, breathing the cool air and blinking in the daylight. Mecha had been holding both chao, and stooped to set them on the grass, where they sat, squinting and blinking.

Mecha's own eyes had trouble adjusting to the light, marvellous instruments though they were, and he made a note to use lights in the base more often.

Shadow said over the network, "Mecha, if you become upset, I'll return us to base immediately."

"Affirmative," said Mecha, looking at the trees and the mountains rearing up in the distance. "I have visited this place many times, and it is only now that my visual sensors are high enough resolution to appreciate its grandeur."

Nox and Aleda stood looking around, Nox with delight, gulping the fresh air, but Aleda began to whimper and shrank close to Mecha's leg. She had never been outdoors in her life, and it was new and strange, terrifying, too big to grasp. She hid her face against his leg, and as Mecha looked down at her, Knuckles, Tails and Zephyer appeared. Mecha focused on them and instantly ignored Aleda.

Knuckles advanced first, hand upraised in welcome. "Hello Shadow, hello Mecha."

"Greetings," said Mecha, observing his one-time enemies. Knuckles and Tails looked the same as the last time he had seen them, but he had to look at Zephyer for several seconds before he recognized her. Her face was the same, but her body shape was completely different without her metal. She even walked differently. She met Mecha's eyes and held them, for she wasn't afraid of him.

Mecha scanned Tails's and Knuckles's faces. They weren't afraid of him, either. Tails kept staring at Mecha eagerly, as if he wanted to talk to him and figure out how he worked. Only Knuckles was wary, watching Mecha and Shadow at once. Knuckles alone knew that Mecha's surrender had led only to an armed truce, not peace, and he was on his guard.

That was fine with Mecha. He knew that three months earlier he would have attacked all three of them without a second thought. But now his desire to fight was gone; fighting was pointless, for it only led to pain and suffering, and somewhere inside of him the iron will that used to goad him into battle was still broken in two. The Mobians didn't fear him because they had defeated him, but he didn't fear them because there was nothing more they could do to harm him.

"What would you have me do?" said Mecha, eyes roving the trees around them. "I understand you are allowing me access to Hidden Palace."

"Um, yes," said Knuckles, looking uneasy. "You are not to handle power crystal without permission, understand?"

Mecha continued to gaze at the trees. If Tails was here, then the hedgehog must be here-out of sight, but watching. "Yes," he said. "Lead the way."

"May we bring the chao?" whispered Shadow.

Knuckles, Tails and Zephyer looked at Nox, who had placed himself between them and Shadow and was watching them appraisingly. A second chao was clinging to Mecha's leg, peeking at them with eyes almost as red as Mecha's.

"Sure, bring them," said Knuckles. "Come on." He turned and walked toward the distant teleporter plate, and the androids followed.

"Zephyer," said Mecha as they walked. "Come here."

She cast a quick look at Knuckles, then dropped back to walk with Mecha. "Yeah?" she said, looking at him. He was three inches shorter than she was, and looked unnaturally thin and slight because of his semi-rebuilt skin.

He looked at her and said, "Where are the other echidnas now? Could you indicate them on a map?" As he spoke his mouth and face moved, and Zephyer suppressed a shiver, for it looked strange for Mecha to have expression.

"Um," she said, "they're on a planet called X-R7. I can show it to you on a star chart."

When she looked at Mecha again, he was smiling. "My expressions are intimidating, are they not?"

She nodded, and he gloated. "Oh, how I enjoy surprising you fools with unusual upgrades!" He lowered his voice and muttered, "Is the hedgehog here?"

"Yes," said Zephyer. "But he's supposed to stay away from you."

Mecha scanned the horizon. "Where is he?"

"I don't know."

Mecha didn't speak another word until they reached the teleporter plate. Then he glanced around furtively until he saw Aleda and Nox were trotting along behind them, Nox comforting the younger chao. Mecha took his time about stepping onto the plate until the chao had caught up, and he studiously looked everywhere except at them.

His act might have gone unnoticed had not Aleda leaped up on the plate and clung to his leg again, whimpering.

Tails cocked his head. "Is that your chao, Mecha?"

Mecha didn't answer him, but over the network he snapped at Shadow, "Don't you dare admit that she belongs to me."

"Yes Mecha."

The teleporter lit up and engulfed them in light and chaos energy. Mecha felt a wave of dizziness strike him, and nearly lost his balance as they landed on the receiver plate in the Hidden Palace antechamber. Shadow laid a hand on Mecha's shoulder to steady him, but Mecha shrugged him off and stepped off the plate, Aleda still clinging to his leg. The others stepped off as well, and Knuckles led the way into Hidden Palace.

Mecha paused on the threshold to record every detail in his memory. It was a cavern sixty feet in diameter, with a domed ceiling covered in phosphorescent blue crystals. The floor was made of polished green and white marble. In the center of the cavern was a three-foot-high pedestal that held the Master Emerald in its bed of seed crystals. Ringing it at a distance of fifteen feet were seven shorter pedestals, each topped by a Super Emerald. One of these pedestals was empty, and this was the one that Knuckles approached.

Through the network Shadow said, "What I wouldn't give to handle these ..." The black hedgehog was staring at the gems in unreserved awe, storing everything in Mekion's databanks.

Mecha left him in the doorway and strode to Knuckles and the others, pretending he wasn't stunned by the amount of power and wealth in this cave, and trying not to look at the Master Emerald too greedily.

Knuckles pulled the side panel off the empty pedestal and motioned inside. "Take a look, Mecha. I'd appreciate your input."

Mecha gave him a hard look to see if he was serious, then stooped and peered in. Aleda, still attached to his leg, looked in, too.

It was an orderly mass of wires and conduits. Each conductor fed into an object Mecha assumed was an insulated router, except each one glowed a different color. He noted that each object was intricately engraved with swirly patterns, as if the echidnas believed that even their machines should be works of art.

He stood up and peered into the pedestal's top. "What are these?" he asked, indicating one of the ceramic nodes.

Knuckles was watching him closely. "These attach to the Super Emerald and conduct energy."

Mecha examined all four nodes without touching them. "Two for input, two for output," he said. "Notice the tips of the output nodes are more heavily insulated to keep from overheating." He knelt and looked at the pedestal's innards again, and Knuckles exchanged significant glances with Zephyer and Tails. None of them had noticed a difference in the nodes until now.

Knuckles crouched beside Mecha and looked at the wires with him. Mecha reached in and touched a cylinder that ran up the pedestal's center. "It is a pity we can't see inside of this. Most of the power transfer probably flows through it."

Knuckles tapped it. "Probably crystal conductors. Better than fiber optics."

"But infinitely more expensive," said Mecha dryly. "The rest of these wires seem to regulate the power flow. Note the many checks and balances. But actual control comes from elsewhere." He pointed to the holes in the floor that the wires fed through.

"Probably the Master Emerald," said Knuckles.

Mecha gazed at the machinery a moment, then looked at the panel that had covered the pedestal's side. He picked it up and examined it. Two feet square, the outside was worn and polished, and the inside was dusty and marred with fingerprints. Both sides were finely engraved with writing. "What is this?" he said, tilting it toward Knuckles.

Knuckles took the panel and looked at both sides. "I know what the outside says ... but I've never seen the inside before." He frowned and read it, eyes skimming back and forth.

Leaving Knuckles to read, Mecha rose and walked to the other pedestals, studying their positioning and angles in relation to the Master Emerald. They were exactly the same distance apart, each emerald positioned in such a way that the facets faced each other and the Master Emerald. A light beam from the Master Emerald would be conducted throughout the room.

He studied and pondered, ignoring the weight of Aleda still clinging to his leg, riding along as he walked. Each gem was wired to the Master, and each was set up to receive, send and manipulate energy. Knuckles was right-Hidden Palace was a machine, a machine that could do anything.

Mecha stopped and let his eyes move from Super to Super, wondering if a wormhole could be generated, and if so, how, when he realized there were only six Supers. The seventh was missing, and its pedestal open. "Knuckles," he said, "where is the seventh Super Emerald?"

Knuckles looked up. "What? Oh. It accelerated back into energy."

"You must return it to matter," said Mecha, surveying the circle, "or otherwise the ring is broken and any sort of power transfer will fail."

Knuckles didn't answer, so Tails said hesitantly, "Um, Mecha, there's another kind of stone we talked about using. They were used as Super Emerald placeholders."

"It must be exactly the same size and shape as the others," said Mecha. "Study the angles of the facets. It must match."

"It's a sphere," said Tails.

Mecha gave him a sharp look. "A sphere? What size?"

Tails held up his hands to indicate the size of a bowling ball.

Mecha returned to studying the other emeralds, factoring a sphere into his growing mental equations. One nice thing about being semi-robot was that mathematics were second nature.

Knuckles looked up from the writing on the panel and beckoned to Zephyer. She stepped over, and he said in a low voice, "These are writings on how the pedestal works, and two commands associated with them."

"But Master Emerald commands aren't allowed to be written down!" Zephyer whispered, eyes widening.

"These are Super Emerald commands," said Knuckles. "I didn't know they had any." He bit his lip, looking at the engraving. "Go topside, get Sonic, and go get a thrall sphere. I need to see how they respond to these commands. Take earplugs."

"Okay," said Zephyer, feeling a burst of elation that he was letting her near the thrall spheres again. "Watch out for Mecha," she whispered. "He's figured out more about Hidden Palace in ten minutes than we would have in a lifetime."

Knuckles nodded, and Zephyer trotted out.

Shadow was still standing in the doorway, gazing at the cavern, and it made Zephyer's skin crawl to walk past him. He looked so weird with his half-robotic face, and his staring red eyes ... "He's enslaved," she thought as she hurried toward the teleporter. "Enslaved to Mecha." And Mecha was still a wreck, dangerous even at his lowest point. She didn't really want to leave, but Knuckles was strong enough to handle the robots, and Tails was there. She would simply hurry to get a sphere.

The teleporter beam deposited her on the plate near the house, and she jogged up the trail. She needed earplugs, a mallet and chisel, and a ladder ... maybe one of those rope ladders ...

As she rounded the bend, she saw Sonic on the porch, elbows on the railing, eating a cookie and looking forlorn. He brightened as he saw her. "Hi Zephyer!"

"Hi Sonic," she said, mounting the steps. "I have to go pick up a thrall sphere. Want to come?"

"Heck yeah!"

The two gathered the various items they needed for an excursion into the sealed cave. Sonic suggested that Zephyer take gloves so she didn't have to touch a sphere directly, and she complied. They also brought along a sack to carry it in, which for now they loaded with their supplies. Ten minutes later the hedgehog and echidna were trotting up the trail into the hills.

"So, how's Mecha?" Sonic asked, pacing himself to Zephyer's slower strides.

She shrugged. "Well, he's all right, I guess ... they've rebuilt his skin, so he doesn't look like a skeleton anymore."

Sonic smirked. "That's not what I meant. Is he still depressed?"

"I don't know ... he was so enthused about Hidden Palace, he didn't have time to be. He did ask about you, though."

"He did?" Sonic stared at her. "What did he say?"

"He wanted to know if you were here, and where you were. I told him I didn't know, and he dropped the subject."

Sonic walked in silence a moment. "That doesn't sound good. I beat the snot out of him, and he wants to see me again? Maybe it's because of that letter."

"What letter?"

"I sent him a letter apologizing for hurting him so bad. Maybe it helped some. Do you remember if he said my name?"

Zephyer thought, replaying her conversation with Mecha in her head. "No ... you're still 'the hedgehog'."

Sonic made a disgusted grunt.

Zephyer told him what Mecha had figured out in Hidden Palace, and Sonic grew quiet and worried. By this time they were following the gully to its mouth, and Zephyer was panting from the uphill hike.

"Zeff," said Sonic, "do you think it's safe, letting Mecha know all that stuff?"

"No," she said, "but who else knows how to open a trans-dimensional portal?"

"I just hope it works like it's supposed to," said Sonic. "Remember when we found the portal stuff the biotics had built? The machinery messed up and sent me to some parallel version of Mobius."

"It'll work if Mecha's driving," said Zephyer, turning aside and descending into the ravine in a cloud of dust and sliding soil.

Sonic followed her. "You're trusting him an awful lot, don't you think?"

Zephyer gave him a sharp look. "I'm willing to give the guy a second chance, that's all."

She strode toward the tunnel, Sonic trotting after her. "Zeff, we've given him a second chance. And a third chance. This is his fourth or fifth chance now, and guess what? He still hasn't changed."

Zephyer didn't answer him, and they walked in silence through the blue tunnel to the side passage. "Earplugs," she said, pulling the lumps of wax out of her sack. They plugged their ears without a word, and entered the sealed cavern.

Zephyer secured a rope ladder to a boulder, and they climbed down into the orange glow of the spheres. As she pulled on her gloves, Sonic walked over and stood gazing at the crystals. He nudged several with his toe, and to his astonishment, one of the spheres rolled free and dropped to the floor with a clunk.

Sonic and Zephyer stared at it for a long moment. Then Zephyer walked up and shook each of the others in turn, revealing two more spheres simply resting among their brethren, unattached to the rock. Zephyer picked up the sphere on the floor, thankful that its resonance did not affect her through her gloves, and examined it. The sphere was perfectly smooth, polished by echidna crystal smiths who had removed it expertly from the vein. The two others were identical.

Sonic and Zephyer loaded all three spheres in the sack, and discovered the sack now weighed well over a hundred pounds. Sonic, being stronger than Zephyer, hauled it up the ladder and out of the chamber while she carried out the rest of the gear.

Once out of the cave, they removed their earplugs. The three spheres in the sack made a gentle hum, but it was not as overpowering as the complete vein. "Okay, why were those three loose?" Sonic asked.

"No clue," said Zephyer. "I think the inscription on the wall in there explained it if we could only read it."

"Yeah, the hick echidnaen," said Sonic with a laugh. "Come on, let's head back. Do you think I could come to Hidden Palace and watch, if I stayed out of the way?"

"No," said Zephyer. "You'd want to be in the thick of things, and at the very least you'd distract Mecha."

Sonic's ears laid back. "Okay, robot-lover, who's the assassin, here? Me or Mecha?"

"What, jealous?"

"I just think it's funny that as soon as Mecha comes on the scene, I get treated like the bad guy. Maybe I should go home, huh? People like me there."

"Go ahead," Zephyer snapped. "Just because you're not in the limelight for once, your ego's all upset."

Sonic snorted, whirled and bolted in a cloud of dust, and was out of sight in four seconds.

* * *

Zephyer  
found that Sonic had left the sack of spheres beside the teleporter,   
but Sonic himself was nowhere in sight. Zephyer felt slightly sorry for   
upsetting him, because he was lonesome up here all by himself. But right  
now she cared more about appeasing Mecha. Sonic would understand, if he  
thought about it.

Zephyer dragged the heavy sack onto the teleporter plate and warped down to the Hidden Palace antechamber, aware of the music of the spheres, and how it echoed around the high chamber. She started to pull out a sphere, then looked at Shadow in the doorway and hesitated. He was holding the orange chaos emerald in one hand. If the thrall spheres were allowed to affect it, then that chaos emerald would absorb its Super Emerald, and they would be down to five.

"Shadow," she called, and he turned. "Would you mind taking your chaos emerald out of earshot of these spheres?"

Shadow gave her a contemptuous look.

"Please?" she said. "If not, your emerald will absorb a Super."

He studied her for a long second, then turned and glided into Hidden Palace. Zephyer gave him a few minutes to move clear, then pulled out a sphere and carried it inside.

Tails and Knuckles were bent over the empty pedestal, talking and pointing. Metal Sonic was standing in front of the Master Emerald, and for an instant Zephyer was certain he was staring at it with a covetous expression. Then he stepped sideways and turned to face a Super Emerald, measuring the angle with two fingers. Zephyer exhaled. She automatically distrusted him-she was as bad as Sonic.

She walked past Mecha without looking at him, and made her way to the empty pedestal. "I got it," she said, and Knuckles and Tails looked up. Knuckles looked relieved to see her back, unhurt, but all he said was, "Good. Put it on the pedestal and we'll see what happens."

Zephyer was aware that Mecha had followed her and was watching over her shoulder. Suppressing a shudder, she dropped the heavy stone into the pedestal with a ringing clunk. Its orange glow deepened to red, and its hum became a purr. It was conducting energy.

"Amazing," remarked Mecha, circling the pedestal and gazing at the red sphere. "It seems that energy is being conducted throughout the ring at all times. Its shape seems to have no effect on the transfer."

"There's two more spheres," said Zephyer. They all looked at her, and she explained about finding the three loose, polished spheres set among the solid ones.

Knuckles bit his lip. "I need to get that poem translated ..."

Mecha looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "What poem translated?"

"There's an inscription on the wall beside the sphere vein," Knuckles explained. "I only translated the beginning."

Mecha looked at the sphere thoughtfully. "Perhaps I could assist you? There is no point in proceeding here if doing so is doomed to failure."

Leaving the sphere in the pedestal, Mecha summoned Shadow from the far end of the cavern, where he was sitting with the chao and his chaos emerald, and the five of them trooped out to the teleporter. Knuckles was saying, "Can you really help translate an unknown dialect?"

"Sure," said Mecha, sounding so normal and non-robotic that Zephyer and Tails looked at him sideways. "Merely give me access to the symbol keys, grammar rules and vocabulary libraries, and I shall set my main processor to work on them at once."

Knuckles grinned. "If you mean brain, then say brain."

Mecha blinked. "Yes, my brain."

Behind the others, Shadow's mouth twitched. They were forcing Mecha to think of himself in organic terms, something Shadow had been trying to do all summer.

They waited as Nox and Aleda scrambled up on the lens, then teleported to the surface. Everyone blinked as the sunlight and breeze struck them, and stepped onto the grass.

Everyone but Mecha, who was standing as if turned to stone.

Sonic had been waiting beside the receiver plate, and was grinning to see them all reappear. His eyes swept from face to face and finally settled on Mecha. His grin vanished.

It was several seconds before the rest of the group noticed the tension, and they fell silent, looking from Sonic to Mecha and back. Shadow started forward, but Knuckles grabbed his arm and whispered, "Wait."

Sonic lifted a hand and waved, never taking his eyes off his old enemy. "Hi Mecha."

"Hello hedgehog," said Mecha stiffly, hardly opening his mouth. Both hands slowly closed into fists at his sides.

"Doing okay?" Sonic asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Affirmative," growled Mecha, his biofiber muscles rippling under his metallic skin as they tensed. "Yourself?"

"I'm good," said Sonic, eyes sweeping Mecha, noting his aggressive posture and suddenly aware of everyone around him. If Mecha charged him ... No, Sonic didn't want to fight, not again, not so soon. He lifted his hands, palms up. "Look, I know you still hate me, but I'm sorry, okay?"

Mecha stared at him for several long, tense minutes, and they could hear the birds in the trees to their left. It didn't seem to fit the scene: a group watching a standoff between two old enemies. Shadow struggled in Knuckles's grasp, and suddenly the chao were there, pushing their way between the legs of the group, looking around.

Nox sensed the anger, hatred and fear in the air, and looked around in alarm, trying to identify the source. Mecha was raging with all three emotions, as was Sonic, whose turmoil was tempered with pity. Shadow was simply seething with rage.

Aleda needed no sixth sense to realize something was wrong. She scampered to Mecha's feet, looked up at him, then followed his gaze to Sonic. That blue hedgehog was threatening her red-eyes! She planted herself between Sonic and Mecha, and growled a shrill baby growl.

A faint smile touched Sonic's lips. He shrugged and relaxed, half-turning away and breaking eye contact. He had retreated. It was the first time he had ever retreated from a battle with Mecha, mental or otherwise, and it caught Mecha off guard.

Mecha watched as the hedgehog beckoned to Tails and spoke to him as they walked off down the trail. He felt the tension leave his body, relieved that he didn't have to fight Sonic. He would have fought Sonic if Sonic had attacked him, but now that he didn't have to, the old wound struck him with new pain. If he had fought, he would have lost. Sonic was superior and Mecha's body and muscles were still weak.

His anger was the only reaction he had, so as the pain rose within him, so did his fury. He turned and stepped off the receiver plate and walked silently up toward Knuckles's house. Knuckles, Zephyer and Shadow hurried to follow him. The chao followed their masters, and Aleda kept throwing dark looks over her shoulder at Sonic.

Mecha did not speak a word as he scanned the photographs of the inscription, or Knuckles's translation notes. As soon as he had the information, he said to Shadow through the network, "Remove us from this place. I am finished."

Shadow told Knuckles and Zephyer that he and Mecha were leaving, grabbed their chao, and teleported in a flash of light.

As soon as the androids were gone, Knuckles stormed outside to give Sonic a tongue-lashing.


	8. Chapter 8

Mecha didn't want to think about what had just happened. It confused and angered him that Sonic had backed down, and he hated himself for being unable to make himself fight. He couldn't even imagine fighting Sonic, which was strange, because it used to be the only thing he thought about.

He submitted to another round of biometal repairs because Shadow left him alone during the process, and Mecha had time to think and brood. He had all that intriguing information that Knuckles had given him, and in a corner of his mind Mecha was planning to break translation down into a formulated macro, then photograph every inscription on the Floating Island and learn what it said.

But for now his mind was filled with burning images of the hated hedgehog, standing in the sun with his spines bristling in his pre-attack stance. Memories of the hedgehog on the flight deck of the Annihilator, his spines glowing hot yellow, invincible, unhurt, watching as Mecha suffered. Memories that brought waves of pain and despair. Sonic, the enemy, was still superior, and the thought shredded Mecha's thought processes and left him with nothing but madness.

He hung from the supports in the regeneration chamber, swallowed by the rubber tubes and unable to move a finger, and closed his eyes. His mind was sick and feverish, and all he wanted to do was seek the emptiness of a shutdown where his thoughts could no longer torment him. He issued a command to his core components to go into energy conservation mode, and relaxed as everything slowed to a crawl, and he 'fell asleep'.

Relieved of their duties during consciousness, the neuro-nanites that composed Mecha's brain began to fire in different patterns, bringing up images, memories and emotions stored in the delicate layers of his subconscious.

He thought he awoke on his cot in the room he shared with Shadow. Mecha sat up, noticed he was alone, and went out looking for Shadow and the chao. As he stepped into the hall and flipped on the lights, they flickered and went out but for a solitary panel right above him. "There is a short in the electrical system," he muttered, looking up and down the hall. As he did, his eyes fell on two green pinpricks in the darkness, and he froze. No, it couldn't be. Not here.

"Hello Mecha-bot two," said Robo Knux over the network. "You thought you were safe in this old facility, didn't you?" His feet rang against the floor as he stepped forward.

Mecha stood paralyzed in terror, as if his body had stopped receiving commands from his brain. He was standing under a light source, making himself super-visible to Robo Knux. All he could see were those lime-green eyes.

"You actually thought you could hide from me?" said Robo Knux, his voice a contemptuous purr. "Your chaos experiments succeeded while mine failed. Sorry to tell you this, but I've come to rectify the situation."

Mecha found his tongue. "Are you too lazy to do the research yourself?"

"Lazy?" snarled Robo Knux. He was ten feet away now, and the light reflecting off his polished body allowed Mecha to see him. He was two feet taller than Mecha, and his arms were plated with sheets of metal. His diamond-tipped claws gleamed in the dimness-weapons and shields all in one. His body was painted with echidna warrior markings.

Mecha backed away and instantly knew he shouldn't have. He had shown fear. Robo Knux's eyes brightened fifty watts, his hull reflecting the green light. "If the brilliant Metal Sonic can build himself a battle armor mode, I can, too! Fearsome, isn't it? I wonder how many seconds it will take to draw and quarter you."

"If you destroy me, you destroy all of my research," said Mecha, desperately standing his ground, although terror was overwhelming him-a self-preservation instinct battling with his will.

Robo Knux cocked his head to one side, as if considering this. "I will? Darn. I guess I'll have to destroy you anyway and do my own research. Lazy as I am."

One of his massive arms swung like lightning, striking Mecha in the torso and pinning him to the wall. Mecha felt pain tear through him, and looked down to see he was impaled on Robo Knux's claws, which were stuck into the wall behind him. He looked up and found himself nose to nose with Robo Knux, who looked triumphant for a robot with no expression. "This is the price you pay for biological life," hissed Robo Knux. "You can die. Horribly."

He tore his claws out of Mecha's torso, and Mecha collapsed to the floor, reeling with pain and feeling nanite-blood behind his teeth. How could this be happening? It wasn't supposed to end this way! He didn't want to die by Robo Knux's hand!

The claws swept down again and Mecha threw himself sideways in a roll. He landed on his feet, ducked and spindashed straight at Robo Knux, between the massive arms, striking his enemy in the head. Robo Knux toppled backward and struck the wall, but as he fell he grabbed Mecha's arm, jerking Mecha off his feet.

Robo Knux twisted and threw all of his weight forward onto Mecha, pinning the smaller android to the floor. Robo Knux was laughing. "All speed, no strength! I thought your upgrades were supposed to make you superior. Your old body was stronger than this one. You're not Metal Sonic anymore-you're just Mecha, and a pathetic Mecha at that." He drew back his claws and looked at them thoughtfully. "I suppose killing you is a mercy, isn't it?"

He drove his claws down with all of his strength into Mecha's eyes, tearing through the brain and out the back of his head.

Mecha awoke with a scream.

For three horrible seconds he didn't know where he was, and thought he was still pinned under Robo Knux-then realized he was still in the regeneration chamber. The room was quiet but for the steady throb of the pump through the wall. Mecha was gasping for breath. His body's systems were on full alert, muscles tense, heart pounding. What had that been? A fantastic illusion? Where had it come from? Some kind of infiltration by Robo Knux?

His pulse began to slow and his breathing calmed. He had to think this through logically. There were no new transmissions in the base computer, and nothing from Shadow, who would have detected an infiltration. The last thing Mecha remembered before his shutdown was being angry at the hedgehog ...

His shutdown. He had entered a suspended sleep-state, which he had done only twice before in the past year. Was it possible that he had dreamed? Not just a dream-a nightmare. Mecha tried to think of a reason why he could not have dreamed, but nothing came to mind. As far as he knew, his brain operated on the same principles as an organic brain. And if that was true, it was possible for him to dream. To experience his worst fears in a virtual environment that he had no control over.

That was the last time Mecha would sleep for a while.

* * *

Knuckles  
sat on a rock under the stars, shrouded by darkness and cut off from   
the night breeze by the brush to his back. He was facing south, arm   
outstretched, a miniature simulacrum of the Master Emerald in his fist.   
The island was moving south to its winter territory. Last year Knuckles   
had left it in the north too late in the year, and the island's   
vegetation had suffered.

He didn't usually fly the island at night, because it wasn't wise to move a large land mass around when you couldn't see your surroundings. But after Knuckles had chewed out Sonic, Sonic had retaliated with hot words of his own, and the pair had had a short, vicious fight right there, parting with bruises and scratches. Knuckles was patching himself up when Zephyer entered, and they had had a spectacular fight about letting Sonic encounter Mecha, although fortunately it did not come to blows.

Now he was flying the island all night, hidden away in the rocks, nursing his wounds and bad mood. Sonic was such a sorehead. He couldn't stand it that Mecha was getting all the attention. Knuckles's brooding disgust in Sonic was not helped by the nagging suspicion that Sonic might be right. Knuckles distrusted Mecha and had watched him all day. Mecha had not yet perfected his poker face, and sometimes he could not hide the hungry look in his eyes when he looked at the Master Emerald. Knuckles was willing to put up with him for Zephyer's sake, but being chewed out in the same day for being on guard, and not being on guard enough, was more than he could stand.

It would not end well, he was certain.

* * *

But for a week, nothing bad happened.

After the first day Sonic went home to Knothole, calling Tails once a day to see if he was wanted. He wasn't, although Tails missed him. All chaos training had stopped in the face of this new project, and Tails had been shuffled to the side where he was ignored. He helped where he could, working calculations and suggesting ideas about the inner workings of Hidden Palace's machinery, but Mecha's cold, superior intelligence far surpassed his. So Tails became the unofficial chao babysitter, making sure Nox and Aleda were fed.

Mecha was in a foul mood, speaking only when necessary, and then only to Knuckles. But despite his inner turmoil, he returned each morning with a new idea to try. Under his guidance they placed the two extra thrall spheres 8.1 feet from the Master Emerald on two wooden makeshift pedestals to hold them at the right height. They were placed to create a spiral from the Master Emerald out to the Super Emeralds.

The evening of the sixth day, Knuckles waited until his guests had left, then tried out the Super Emerald commands. One was Island Stability, used in case something happened to the Master Emerald. The other was Chaos Shift, but Knuckles couldn't get it to work.

After he tired of that, he returned to the Master Emerald and energized the Super Emerald ring. He was gratified to see the inner thrall spheres flush red, transferring power out of the Master and into the Supers.

As he stood there on the dais, admiring the group's handiwork, his skin began to tingle. His chaos field. The longer the power loop continued, the stronger the feeling became, until Knuckles's fur was crackling with electricity. The light was changing, growing brighter in the cave. Knuckles looked up and saw that two feet above his head the air was filling with mist. It was a disk the width of the Super Emerald ring, swirling in the center, growing more and more solid.

Knuckles panicked and yelled, "Power cease!" The seven emeralds and three spheres dimmed, and the mist stopped rotating and settled softly downward, smelling of ozone. He watched it, breathing heavily, realizing what had happened. It had started to form a portal! Mecha was right!

He ran from the cave to tell Zephyer.

* * *

Rouge  
the Bat picked up her cellphone and speed-dialed Nack's phone. She   
listened to it ring, standing beside the spotting scope on her balcony,   
gazing at the horizon. The evening sun illuminated a dark, cloud-like   
object just above the sea, but it was not a cloud. Through her scope   
Rouge could see the mountains and plateaus of the Floating Island.

Nack picked up. "Yeah, what?"

"It's here," said Rouge, unblinking, as if looking away from the island might let it escape. "Call Robo Knux and have him meet us at the dock."

"What's here?" said Nack, sounding blank. Suddenly it connected. "It is? It's here?" She heard the scrape of a chair, and Nack's rough breathing in the speaker as he looked out at the ocean. "Well well," he said, grinning. "It finally made it down. Took it long enough."

"Get your things. We have to move fast."

"You got it, sister."

Nack hung up, and Rouge sprinted around her apartment, grabbing things and throwing them into her backpack. Her heart pounded in excitement. After weeks of waiting, it was finally time for action! She zipped her backpack, slung it over one shoulder and ran for the elevator.

She had booked a seaplane weeks in advance, and had paid the pilot a generous amount to secure his services the instant she needed them. As she folded her wings and dropped with a thunk to the wooden boardwalk, she saw the pilot sitting in the plane's cockpit with the door open, eating dinner and swigging a soda. He was a kangaroo rat with long hind legs and tail, and he looked up as Rouge landed. "Hello, Miss Bat."

She darted up, eyes dancing with excitement. "The island is here, Skimmer. Can we leave immediately?"

Skimmer twisted around and looked out at the horizon. "Sure enough. Wow, you're observant. Usually it's a lot closer. Sure, we can leave." He stepped onto the dock and began to untie the anchor lines, and Rouge helped him, her fingers clumsy with excitement.

Five minutes later Nack appeared, toting a paper sack and his gun belt. He winked at Rouge and climbed aboard. Skimmer jumped in the cockpit and called, "Cast off the final line, Rouge!" She did, and the plane began to drift away from the dock. She fluttered to the rear door, whisked inside and slammed it as the plane's engine coughed to life.

A seaplane looked like any other small plane, but instead of wheels for landing gear, it had floats. Skimmer's clients usually had him fly to remote bays or lakes and let them fish or camp. Now it purred away from the dock, its floats slicing through the water and leaving two white streaks in its wake. It nosed out to sea, and the engine whined to a higher pitch as they moved faster and faster, bouncing over the waves.

Then Skimmer pulled up the nose and they were airborne. As he gained altitude, Rouge hollered over the engine noise, "How far is it to the island, do you think?"

"Hundred miles or so," Skimmer called back. "Visibility today was about that. It'll take a couple of hours to get there."

Rouge settled back in her seat and smiled at Nack. He was cleaning one of his pistols, and returned her smile. At last. The jewel heist of the century.

* * *

"Yeah Sonic, you want to be   
here tonight," said Tails into the communicator. The fox was standing on  
the porch, watching as two echidnas, two androids and two chao walked   
by, making for the teleporter. "Mecha says that it's time to turn it all  
on and see what happens."

"Will it distract him if I'm there?" said Sonic bitterly.

"Naw," said Tails. "I asked him if he would mind, and he ignored me, so he'll probably ignore you, too."

Sonic snorted with laughter. "Silence is as good as yes with him. Okay, I'll be out in a few minutes.

Tails clicked off the com and looked up to see that Mecha had left the others and was hurrying toward him. "Hi Mecha," said Tails.

"Greetings," said Mecha, stepping up on the porch. He had a folded sheet of paper in one hand, which he held out. "Place this with Knuckles's translations. I ineptly translated the inscription, and he says he will study it later."

Tails took the paper. "Okay, thanks." He watched as Mecha hurried back to the group on the teleporter, and they all vanished. Tails unfolded the paper as he walked inside. He was curious about the contents of the translation. He smoothed out the paper and saw it was covered in Mecha's tiny, mechanically precise handwriting. Tails read it through, reached the end, and sighed with relief. It told how the echidnas vanished, but it was a Master Emerald thing, not because of the thrall spheres.

"Tails?" Sonic called from outside.

Tails tossed the paper on the table and dashed outside. "Hi Sonic! Let's go!"

"This is gonna be cool," said Sonic as they trotted down toward the teleporter. "Even if we don't actually retrieve any echidnas, portals to other realities are always cool. Think we'll get sucked through?"

Tails shivered. "I hope not. We'd be stuck there the way Zephyer is here."

They reached the lens and stepped on it. "Zeff was lucky," said Sonic. "If I had to be stranded somewhere, I'd prefer it to be Mobius."

They warped to the underground antechamber, and the pair walked to the Hidden Palace entrance and looked in. Knuckles and Zephyer were standing on the Master Emerald's dais, hooking a rope around the pedestal's base. Both echidnas were wearing belts, which they clipped to the anchor rope.

"Looks like I'm not the only one thinking about portals sucking people through," Sonic whispered, and Tails snickered.

Across the cave, Metal Sonic and Shadow were anchoring themselves to Super Emerald pedestals. Mecha called, "Once the power spiral is activated, it will be unsafe for anyone but a Guardian to enter the ring."

"Hey Knux," said Sonic, "should we anchor to something, too?"

"Yeah," replied Knuckles. "The stuff's in that cavern back there." He jerked his head at a passage in the opposite side of the cavern, and Sonic and Tails trotted for it. Sonic didn't look at Mecha, and Mecha didn't look at Sonic. But Shadow watched everything.

* * *

The  
Floating Island on the horizon was slowly expanding to fill the sky,   
its indefinite silhouette taking on green and tawny hues. It was rocky,   
tree-filled and lonely. It looked as if any number of lost civilizations  
could flourish there, leaving behind countless treasures for treasure   
hunters for find. Rouge and Nack stared at it in silence, plotting theft  
and dreaming of riches.

Halfway through their flight, Robo Knux passed the plane, flying on his dreadlock-jets with his wing-like arms out to the sides. He pulled ahead and shrank to a gleaming speck against the colorful backdrop of the Floating Island.

Nack opened his paper sack, pulled out a tiny, odd-looking communicator and flipped it on. "Heya RK."

"Hello," replied the robot's voice. "I am the distraction as planned, correct?"

"Yes. Find out where the Guardian is, will you? I'd hate it if he was fishing in the lake where we're landing."

"It would be my pleasure. It's a pity we have not come to exterminate them all."

Nack looked sidelong at Rouge. "Have we?"

She shook her head. "This is theft, not murder. Zero bodycount."

Nack smiled, baring his fang, and resuming cleaning his gun.

* * *

Sonic  
and Tails tied themselves to the white and indigo Super Emerald   
pedestals, then sat on the floor to watch the proceedings. Knuckles and   
Zephyer were talking in low voices that carried throughout the cave.

Knuckles was saying, "The Master Emerald does this kind of thing with a semi-telepathic bond. You need to hold a picture of your homeworld in your mind as we activate the portal."

"I'll try," Zephyer murmured, "but what part? The deserts or the caves? Or should I focus on one person?"

"Picture where you lived," said Knuckles. "Did your family have a chamber of their own?"

"We shared it with two other families," Zephyer replied, looking pained at the memory. "But I'll focus on that." She closed her eyes and placed a hand on the Master Emerald. Everyone waited in silence.

* * *

Robo  
Knux flew over the island, headed inland, scans sweeping for any sign   
of life. Knuckles's house was vacant, as was Chaotix Central. He circled  
the lowlands from two thousand feet, scanning, but picked up nothing   
bigger than birds and a few non-sentient lifeforms. The Guardian must   
not be in the area, or was underground. That was fine with Robo Knux.

He identified the river and a nearby lake, found them deserted, and radioed Nack with his internal hardware. "No sign of anyone in this part of the island. I'd say you're clear to land."

"Right," said Nack. "Cover us. If you spot anyone, maul 'em."

"Affirmative," purred Robo Knux, hoping someone would appear.

He watched as the seaplane glided in, circled over the lake once, then dropped, slowed and touched down on the water, sheets of white foam spurting from its floats. It taxied across the lake and stopped at the edge, where Rouge and Nack jumped out. As they splashed ashore, the plane taxied out into open water and took off again, headed for the mainland.

"He's not waiting for you?" said Robo Knux, continuing to circle.

"No," snorted Nack. "We're taking a teleporter off this rock. See anybody?"

"Negative." Robo Knux watched as Rouge and Nack set off through a stand of trees, headed for a small blue teleporter disk on the far side.

* * *

"Power  
transfer activate," said Zephyer. The Master Emerald's glow brightened,  
the thrall spheres blushed red, and the power began to build. Zephyer   
opened her eyes to see what was happening, but Knuckles hissed,   
"Concentrate!" She shut her eyes again.

Sonic rubbed his arms. "Feels electrical in here."

"Yeah," said Tails, trying to smooth down his headfur, which was beginning to stand up. Across the room, the chao and Shadow were fidgeting as the room's chaos power rose, and their personal chaos fields flared in response.

Mecha felt it as a crawling sensation over his skin, and held himself motionless. This was nothing compared to the agony of being struck by lightning. Fascinated, he stared at the ceiling as a white mist began to gather there. Slowly, ever so slowly, it filled out a disk the same size and shape as the ring of Super Emeralds.

As they all gazed up at the swirling mist, there was a flash of light from the teleporter chamber. They all jumped, and Knuckles looked around the room, counting heads. Everyone was still here, tied down. So who had used the teleporter ...?

Two figures bolted into the room and charged between the Super Emeralds, running for the Master Emerald in the center. As they broke through the ring, the Supers and Master dimmed, then flared up unnaturally bright. "Hey!" Knuckles yelled.

Rouge the bat leaped into the air, did a flip with the aid of her wings, and landed on top of the Master Emerald. Zephyer stared up at her in horror and outrage. "Rouge! What are you doing here? Get off!"

"Sorry dearie," said Rouge, pulling a subspace containment module from her belt. "You took my echidna, so I'm taking your emerald."

Behind her, Nack had one pistol aimed at Knuckles's forehead, and the other covering Sonic and Tails. "One wrong move and somebody dies," the weasel warned, grinning. "Hey Rouge, they're all in here! Every last one of them!"

Overhead, the portal was swirling faster and becoming thicker. The center was darkening and rippling, reflecting the green light of the Master Emerald. Zephyer looked up at it, then snatched at Rouge's gadgets. "Stop it! This is like the absolute worst time for this stuff!"

Sonic started to unhook his tether, but Metal Sonic yelled, "No one move! The circle must not be broken again!" Sonic and Tails looked across the circle to where Mecha and Shadow were standing, watching the drama inside the circle and unable to move to help.

Nack laughed and trained both pistols on Knuckles. "Can't cross the circle, eh boys? That's fine-it'd probably take twelve bullets to kill this echidna anyway."

Knuckles's face was set like stone, but his eyes darted from the portal to Nack, then to Rouge, and back. "Rouge," he said, looking at the bat on the Master Emerald, "get off now. You hear me? NOW!"

She laughed at him.

"Oh yeah, laugh," snarled Knuckles. "Look up."

Rouge and Nack both glanced at the ceiling. Where a ceiling had once been was now a bottomless black void, the edges composed of rippling, swirling mist.

"Zephyer, do it!" exclaimed Knuckles.

"I can't!" Zephyer cried. "I can't picture it when she's stealing the Master Emerald!"

Rouge focused on attaching the module wires to the Master Emerald's corners, unsettled by the yawning depths above her head. But Nack was unnerved. He stared up at the portal, and the pistols in his hands began to shake.

Zephyer grabbed one of Rouge's wires and tore it out of the module, just as Knuckles's fists smashed down on Nack's pistols.

Nack's fingers were wrapped around the triggers so tightly that when Knuckles knocked the pistols out of his hands, they both fired. One bullet knocked a chunk out of the marble floor, and the other hit the dais, ricocheted and tore through Knuckles's right calf.

As Rouge screamed in outrage and aimed a savage kick at Zephyer, Knuckles bellowed and fell back against the Master Emerald. Instantly the gem's glow changed from yellow-green to a deep blue-green, like the sea, strange and brooding.

Pain stabbed everyone in the cave like a knife between the ears. Mecha grabbed his head, Shadow knelt, holding his ears, and Sonic and Tails doubled up in pain. Nack writhed, yelling, holding his head, and Rouge leaped off the Master Emerald with a shriek.

"Knuckles!" Zephyer cried, trying to run to him, but she was checked by her anchor rope. She unhooked it and hurried to him. He was supporting himself against the Master's pedestal, standing on one leg while the other gushed blood. "Zeff," he said through his teeth, "this isn't supposed to happen. Look at them."

Zephyer looked around and saw everyone in the cavern writhing in pain. "Grab the weasel's guns. I'll stop the transfer." She slapped a hand on the Master and said, "Power cease!"

Nothing happened. Above, the portal continued to swirl like a black hole, empty and ominous. She had to kill the power. Zephyer dashed to the nearest thrall sphere and yanked it out of the pedestal.

At once the transfer died, the Supers dimming. The portal boiled in on itself and became a cloud of mist that settled slowly downward. But as soon as Zephyer touched the thrall sphere, its music filled her head, along with a horrible stabbing pain through her ears. She screamed and tried to drop the sphere, but her muscles had locked, and between the pain and the music she couldn't remember how to let go-

The Master Emerald blazed blue and lit the cavern from end to end. Then the light faded, and the Master and Supers returned to their normal glow in a tired sort of way.

Knuckles lifted his head, panting. The noise had stopped. No more screaming. "Zephyer?" he said, looking around. She wasn't there, and neither was the thrall sphere. Nack and Rouge were gone, Nack's pistols still lying on the floor. "Mecha? Sonic?" He could see their anchor ropes lying on the floor, empty.

He unhooked his own rope and limped to where Sonic and Tails had been, tracking blood that was still pouring down his leg. The clasp on the end of the anchor rope was smoking. He stared at it, then looked at the Master Emerald. What in the heck...?

Knuckles untied the rope and bound it around his leg as a tourniquet. The bleeding slowed. He was feeling lightheaded from the blood loss, and his brain refused to accept what had just happened. Maybe he had passed out, and everyone had left for some reason...

He limped slowly and painfully out to the teleporter, surprised that what used to be such a short distance had become miles. He warped to the surface, dragged himself up to the house and called, "Zephyer?" No answer.

He reached his room and picked up his communicator. He set it to Sally's frequency and waited until she picked up, teeth clenched against the pain.

A moment later she answered. "Hello?"

"Sally, this is Knuckles," he said. "There's been an ... accident. Could you send a doctor up here?"

"Knuckles! What happened?"

"Long story," he said, and added with a grim smile, "but it ended with a bullet in my leg."

"A bullet...! All right, I'll get the doctor and we'll be there as soon as possible."

She hung up, and Knuckles limped into the kitchen and sat down. Something had happened down there, something he didn't understand, and now everyone was gone. But it had happened after the portal had closed. The Master Emerald had flashed blue for a second ...

His eyes fell on the crumpled paper covered in Mecha's writing. He picked it up and read it. Mecha had employed a different meter for making the poem rhyme. Some parts had not translated very well, but the meaning was clear.

The Ballad of Miloth

The caverns were dark,  
As Miloth descended  
He hoped that the Elders would believe him,  
If not, then everything he knew would be ended.

Into the heart of the island  
He strode on grim faced.  
He alone knew the future  
And knew that the knowledge was firm based.

Hidden Palace! There lit by the Master and thrall  
in many shades of cool green.  
Each Elder, there in his place,  
Eyes on the Guardian "teen".

Miloth: the Guardian,  
by the Emerald's selection,  
Chosen, not by birth,  
nor by popular election.

Despised by the elders,  
For what they could not change,  
Miloth, the pedestal ascended,  
His announcement he knew would cause rage.

His palms, they were sweating,  
As he looked all around.  
Anger, resentment, hostility,  
No friendship was anywhere found.

"Friends, hear me!  
"All must flee this island now for aye!  
Elders of the Echidna tribes, heed, please!  
Or all of you will most certainly die."

They Elders gazed about  
And rolled their wizened eyes.  
They'd heard THIS one before.  
This pronouncement of everyone's demise!

One of the Elders, stood up from the crowd:  
The Leader of the Elders: Silth was his name,  
To hut up this obnoxious "Guardian,"  
And put down this ridiculous claim!

"What proof have you of this!?  
"A sprite, whispering into your ear?  
"Perhaps, perhaps, you believe,  
"Another Chaos Flux is now near?"

Miloth, at the Elders he looked,  
Stricken with Grief and Compassion:  
Their deaths he had seen in a vision!  
Their faces all waxen and ashen.

He had to convince the Elders!  
He didn't not know the hour or the day...  
Disaster would strike all The Echidnas!  
To tell them... he had to find a way!

"Please listen to me! The stars!  
"Fear and War! Together they have crossed!  
"In the constellation of Belliphon!  
"It's an omen, that all shall be lost!

Silth looked to the Elders,  
All of them shaking their heads.  
This stargazing imposter,  
Talking of "Demons" and "Dreads!"

"What have a few lights,  
"There up in the sky!  
"Have to do with us here!  
"Our patience you try!

"We have observed the sky for years!  
"Years before you were even born!  
"No harm have ever befallen us!"  
He said with much bitter scorn.

On the Master, Miloth laid  
His hand and drew a breath.  
Only eighteen, with this vision,  
The vision of utter, certain DEATH!

But, he was the Guardian,  
Guardian of the Master!  
He had to protect the clan from everything!  
Especially this oncoming disaster.

He faced the Elders,  
Mouth opened to respond.  
But the Elders, en masse,  
Stood, as if directed by a wand.

"I vote that we remove Miloth!  
"Take away his position and power!  
"Lets attack! Clear him out!  
"Let's see him run and cower!

Miloth was then shaking.  
"The first to touch me dies!"  
"Then your prophecy, tonight will be fulfilled!"  
Said the Elders, with other such cries.

The mob of Echidnas,  
Moved at their leader,  
They were ready to fight, to kill!  
And the Guardian was filled up with fear.

Miloth backed into the Em'rald,  
His fear felt by everyone near.  
But the mob was then stopped!  
By an increase of glow at his rear.

But not stopped in time!  
For Silth, not to be cowed by anything,  
Had mounted upon the Guardian's dais,  
And the Master, it started to ring!

In defense of the Guardian,  
The Master commenced to attack!  
Chaos power running through their veins,  
The Elders were forced to turn back!

Their families, too,  
In their homes, on the streets,  
All collapsed, with chaos power rip'd.  
From the poor on up to the "elites."

One by one, they all dis'pered.  
The Master was quite thorough.  
Miloth pounded upon the Master,  
His brow all deep and furrow'd.

But the Master didn't heed him,  
It was Protecting the Guardian and the island.  
This it only did during times of greatest need.  
But their death, was never it's intent.

It was to only banish the offenders,  
from the floating island forever,  
But so powerful were the emotions,  
So from the world it did them sever.

Miloth found himself lying on the cold stone,  
At the base of the Emerald's dais  
Only his family had been spared of it's wrath,  
Due to the Emerald's protecting Bias.

The Master Emerald's work had been complete,  
For years, Miloth searched for the others,  
But they were gone for good, banished,  
His Echidna Sisters and Brothers.

So remember, oh Guardians,  
To protect the island and it's Master.  
But also protect the people around,  
From wrath and its final Disaster.

(refrain)  
This is a warning  
to future Guardians of the Master,  
Warning to those who threaten him,  
Lest they meet up with certain Disaster.

Knuckles finished reading and laid the paper aside, staring straight ahead. Black despair such as he had never known crashed down over him. By being attacked right there on the dais, he had activated the Master Emerald's defensive mechanism of its Guardian. First it punished the wrongdoers-then it erased them from the island.

Everyone.

Even Zephyer.

From the island, maybe the world.

And they couldn't get back.

He laid his head down on the table and cried.


	9. Chapter 9

Mecha was the first to awaken. He sat up with an explosive cough and realized his lungs were burning. There was no air! Coughing, he scrambled to his feet. As soon as he stood, he broke free of the ground-clinging fumes and inhaled oxygen. He stood there, gasping for breath and looking around.

He was on a rocky hillside under a burning sun. All around were jagged, black hills, cutting off the horizon, many with white smoke streaming from vents in their sides. One such vent was twenty feet away, uphill, its fumes creeping down upon him. As he looked around, he realized the hillside was strewn with bodies.

Shadow lay nearby, face up, his natural eye half open and glazed. Beside him lay Nox and Aleda, also unmoving. Further off was Nack, Rouge, Tails, Zephyer and the hedgehog. Zephyer was still clutching a thrall sphere.

Mecha had read the poem, and he knew what had happened to them. He accepted it and arranged his priorities accordingly. They were all in an unknown, hazardous location. Their chances of survival were greatest if they kept together, and that meant they all had to live through the next ten minutes. He had to get them out of this poisonous gas.

"Shadow!" he barked over the network, thankful that it still worked. "Mekion, status report!"

Mekion's red eye flashed on. "Shadow status 76. Mekion status 96."

"Awaken Shadow," said Mecha. He grabbed the black hedgehog and dragged him to his feet, lifting his head above the gas.

Shadow's natural eye blinked. "What? What happened?"

"Remain standing," said Mecha, his voice clipped. "A poison smoke is near the ground. I must rouse the others." Mecha stooped and picked up Nox and Aleda, thrusting them into Shadow's arms. He hesitated slightly to reassure himself that Aleda was breathing. Shadow stood there, coughing and shaking his head, as Mecha hurried across the hillside to Nack and Rouge.

Up the hill, Sonic groaned and sat up. He promptly doubled over, choking and gasping.

"Stand up!" Mecha called to him, secretly thinking that if the hedgehog died of gas inhalation, no one could blame Mecha. To his disappointment Sonic staggered to his feet and breathed the fresh air.

"Mecha," he called hoarsely, "where are we?"

"No time now," Mecha said. "Rouse everyone and get them on their feet before the gas kills them."

Sonic bent over Tails, and Mecha grabbed Rouge's arm and yanked her to her feet. She was limp and heavy, unresponsive. Mecha shook her violently, snarling, "If not for you, we wouldn't be here! Wake up and stand!"

Her eyes opened, and she began coughing as if rescued from drowning. When she could stand on her own, Mecha left her and repeated the process with Nack. The weasel awakened at once, and he fought off Mecha with a snarl. "Leave me alone, robot! I'm fine!"

Mecha stepped away from him and looked around. Sonic had awakened Tails, and both of them were hoisting Zephyer to her feet. Tails wrenched the thrall sphere out of her hands and set it on the rocks, and Zephyer shuddered and began gasping.

Mecha scanned the hillside. Everyone was up now, pale, shaky and alive. He had time to analyze his own status, and realized he was drained and dizzy. The memory of the chaos-induced pain in his head was still there, like the ghost of a headache, and breathing the gas had not helped matters.

"You guys," called Sonic to them all, "we've got to get out of here."

"Uphill," said Rouge, rubbing her chest. Her voice was low and scratchy. "This gas is heavier than air, it flows downhill. The air will be clean up above."

"You heard her," said Mecha. "Everyone, commence climbing."

The group staggered uphill, tripping over the rocks and trying not to fall into the layer of bad air near the ground. Mecha returned to Shadow and took Aleda from him. Aleda and Nox were awake, but their eyes had a shiny, sick look. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up," groaned Nox.

"Please don't," Shadow whispered.

Mecha carried Aleda in the crook of his arm. She was unnaturally limp, and her head lolled from side to side as if she lacked the strength to hold it up. It worried him, but there was nothing he could do for her right now.

The hill was not very high, and once they moved beyond the gas vent the going was easier. The rocks were smaller and firmer, and soon they reached the hilltop and stood inhaling the hot breeze. All around them, as far as the eye could see, were volcanic slag heaps streaming gas and smoke. There wasn't a speck of green in sight, and no water.

"So ... where are we?" asked Tails with a tremor in his voice.

"And how'd we get here?" added Nack, folding his arms. "Was that a teleporter accident or something?"

"No," growled Mecha. "You and Rouge activated a Master Emerald defense by attacking the Guardians."

"How do you know?" said Rouge, who was recovering her wits and developing a nasty mood. "In case you didn't notice, all of us are here, and I didn't notice YOU attacking the Guardians." She shot a dirty look at Zephyer, who was pale and quiet.

"Oh shut up," snarled Sonic. "If you didn't have a revenge-fixation-"

The bat raised a fist and advanced on him, but Mecha caught her wrist and twisted her arm backwards. "Stop," he said quietly, and released her. She backed away, glaring. He looked around at all of them. "I interpreted the inscription that explains this situation. Would you care to hear it?"

The group exchanged dark looks and nodded.

Mecha recited the poem, mildly enjoying the way the syllables rolled off his tongue. The group listened in silence, looking at the desolate landscape and avoiding each other's eyes. Their attention wasn't riveted until the final verses, when the echidnas threatened Miloth and were banished. Mecha finished with the warning and fell silent, looking at them. No one spoke for a long moment.

Finally Sonic blurted, "So the emerald banishes everyone but the Guardian's family? That sucks!"

"Way," agreed Tails. He looked around at the volcanos. "Does this mean this isn't Mobius?"

"It's not my world," said Zephyer softly.

"How do you know?" said Nack. "The robot just said the Master Emerald banishes everyone from the world."

Zephyer pointed at the sky. "Blue sky. On my world it's orange from the dust in the atmosphere. And the wind is never this calm at home, ever."

"Hey Mecha," said Tails, "see if you can reach any satellites."

Mecha nodded and turned in a slow circle, scanning. Shadow, who was standing a little apart from the rest, whispered, "It's no use, I already tried. There's nothing out there."

"So we're not on Zeff's homeworld," said Sonic, "but we might be on some other planet entirely. Great. Zeff, how come you came with us? You're a Guardian."

"I touched a thrall sphere," she murmured. "When I did, I put myself under the same punishment as you."

"Whatever," said Sonic, tapping a foot. "I don't know about you people, but I don't like standing in the sun this long. What say I go run around and scout some territory?"

"I'll go, too," whispered Shadow, and the hedgehogs glared at each other.

"Don't go out of sight," said Rouge. "In country like this, it'll be easy to get lost."

"Yeah, yeah," said Sonic. "I'll go this way, and Shads, you go that way." Sonic bolted off down the hill, jumping rocks and causing small avalanches of loose pebbles. Shadow darted in the other direction, his hoverskates lifting him high enough to coast over the rocks.

Nack poked Mecha's arm. "You're fast, aren't you? Why don't you go with them?"

Mecha turned his head and graced Nack with a sour look. "Two reasons. The first is that two scouts are more than enough. The second reason is that since we are cut off from civilization, I must conserve as much fuel as possible."

"We all should," muttered Zephyer, squinting after Sonic as he stopped on a distant hilltop and began to circle. "If we don't find water, we'll all die in a few days."

"Then finding water is priority," said Mecha.

Over the network, Shadow said to Mecha, "My reserves are already low. What is the status of yours?"

"Low," Mecha replied grimly. "Fuel levels are three-fourths, but the fuel for my nanite chambers are less than half. Perhaps I should have let you install that carbon-based power system after all."

Shadow didn't reply, for there was nothing more to say. Their situation was looking worse by the minute.

Sonic returned to the group first, sweaty and panting. "Nothing but this as far as I can see," he reported. "There's a really bad smell in the low places, so all the shade is probably poisoned." He noticed Tails gazing at him with silent fear in his eyes. Sonic ruffled the fox's headfur. "Don't worry little bro, we'll be okay."

Shadow reappeared, also panting, heat rippling from his metal half. "Nothing," he whispered. "However, there is a ravine just over that hill. It leads south. Perhaps if we follow it we will locate water."

"Sounds good to me," said Nack, pulling his hat lower over his eyes.

"Like you have any say in the matter," snapped Zephyer. "You shot my husband!"

Nack sneered. "The way things are looking, you're much, much worse off than he is."

Zephyer swung at him, eyes flaming, but Mecha intervened, catching her wrist and twisting her arm back the way he had done to Rouge. "Enough," he said. "We are in enough danger without inflicting damage on each other." He turned and walked down the hill, and the group followed him in silence, exchanging nasty looks.

The ravine was four feet deep, cut through layers of volcanic rock and ash by rain runoff. It was thick with fumes, so the group walked along its bank, scrambling over the rocks and trying not to break their ankles. It was hot, tough work, and the sun blazed down without mercy.

They stopped to catch their breaths, and Sonic said, "Hey guys, how about if I run down the ravine and see where it leads?"

They exchanged glances, but Mecha stared straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge Sonic's existence.

"Knock yourself out," said Nack, mopping his face. "Bring us back some iced beverages, will you?"

"Will do," said Sonic. He covered his nose and mouth with one hand, leaped into the ravine and shot away in a cloud of dust.

"He is wasting his energy," Shadow observed in a whisper. "He may run a hundred miles before he finds anything."

"At least he's trying," said Tails, standing up for his hero. "I don't see you trying to save us."

"I don't waste my efforts on futility," whispered Shadow, giving Tails a cool look.

Zephyer lifted her head. "You've given up already, huh? How come you two are still carrying your chao?"

Mecha and Shadow looked down at Aleda and Nox. The ground was too rough and poisonous to allow the chao to walk. Nox was panting, his tongue a bright pink against his black face, but in Mecha's arms Aleda was riding along limp, eyes closed, one paw hanging loose.

"Looks like yours is dying," said Rouge, motioning to Aleda.

Mecha looked at her, trying to keep his face blank. "Yes," he said. "Pity."

Zephyer and Tails looked at each other. They had grown accustomed to Mecha's personality over the last week, and heard the faintest of tremors in his voice.

Zephyer walked up to him and held out her hands. Mecha looked at her savagely and clutched Aleda to him, but Zephyer whispered, "Your metal is conducting heat. She's frying."

The android looked at the chao with a pained expression, then slowly handed her to Zephyer. Zephyer took the tiny limp body and laid the chao's head on her shoulder. The creature's pulse was weak and fluttery, its body damp with sweat. "What's his name?" Zephyer asked.

Mecha muttered under his breath.

Zephyer stepped closer and inclined her head, and this time heard him say, "HER name is Aleda."

"Aleda," murmured Zephyer, turning so her shadow fell over the chao. "Poor thing. We need water."

Nack sat down on a rock. "Eh, just club it in the head. It won't survive out here anyway."

Mecha moved so fast that no one had time to react. One second he was standing beside Zephyer, and the next second he lifted Nack off the ground by his throat. "I was kidding, I was kidding!" Nack gasped.

Mecha's eyes flamed. He tightened his grip until Nack began to strangle, kicking and twisting, then Mecha threw him on the ground. He glared around at the others, who were watching in shock. "Yes," he snarled, "I have a chao. If you want to prolong your existence, do not joke about it."

* * *

Knuckles  
lay on the sofa, eyes closed, as the doctor examined his leg. Sally   
stood nearby, anxiously chewing her lip and watching. Knuckles was pale   
and spoke little, suffering in silence. It wasn't only his wound that   
pained him, Sally was certain. The island was deserted. Something had   
happened, leaving Knuckles alone and hurt, and the trauma was worse than  
the injury itself.

The doctor was a collie named Shepherd. He was Knothole's resident physician, and had treated Zephyer during her recovery from derobotization. He knew Knuckles and Zephyer quite well, and now prodded Knuckles's leg with expert fingers, wiping away the blood to see the damage.

At last he said, "The bullet entered here and exited here. It missed the bone and the major arteries, thankfully. It'll take a while to knit."

Knuckles nodded. Shepherd reached into his bag and extracted a syringe and a bottle. "I'll apply some local anesthetic and sew it up."

Knuckles nodded again. He accepted the shot without a sound, then relaxed as the pain in his leg began to deaden.

Shepherd went to the kitchen to wash his hands, and Sally pulled up a chair and sat beside the sofa. "Knuckles," she said quietly, "what happened?"

He opened his eyes and looked at the squirrel. A smile flickered across his face-an ironic smile that Sally did not like. "There's a poem on a paper on the kitchen table," he told her, his voice slow and thick. "Read it."

Sally rose and entered the kitchen as Shepherd walked out, drying his hands. "What do you think?" she murmured to him.

The collie cast an appraising look at the motionless crimson shape on the sofa. "He was shot at point-blank range, and I'd say he's in shock. But he's a fighter, and he's in excellent physical condition. He'll pull through."

"I wish he'd tell us what happened," whispered Sally.

Shepherd nodded and walked over to attend to Knuckles, while Sally entered the kitchen. The kitchen table was covered in papers, books and photographs as if someone had dumped a box on the table and spread around its contents. On top of the pile was a sheet of paper covered in handwriting that looked like type. Sally stood and read it, wondering what echidnaen history had to do with this. Sonic had hinted that Knuckles and Zephyer were trying some emerald experiments, but ...

She reached the ending, then reread the last few verses. A sense of horror settled over her. This was a ballad about the echidna clan vanishing. All but the Guardian. But where was Zephyer?

She carried the paper back in the living room. Knuckles was gazing at the ceiling, trying not to look as Shepherd threaded a needle with heavy brown thread. Sally sat down in her chair and held out the paper. "What does this mean?"

He took it from her and his eyes flicked over it. Then he glanced at the doctor's gloved hands inserting the needle, and he quickly turned his head. Although he could not feel it due to the anesthetic, it was unnerving to see someone sewing up his leg like a piece of cloth.

"We were trying to open a portal to Zeff's homeworld," he muttered. "Might have worked, but Rouge and some weasel busted in right in the middle of it. Trying to steal the Master Emerald. There was ... a struggle. The weasel shot me and the Master went into protection mode. Banished everyone."

"Even Zephyer?"

He nodded. "She grabbed a thrall sphere just as the energy pulsed. They're all gone."

Sally sat back in her chair, feeling the same rush of disbelief and despair that had overtaken Knuckles. Sonic had been there. He was gone, too. And Tails. "Where did they go?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

He shook his head. "No idea. Far away. You know in that poem it moved them to another planet."

Another planet. Sally's hands shook as she looked at the poem again. Sonic was as good as dead in that case, because she would never see him again. The rebellious Freedom Fighter rose in her, refusing to give up. There had to be something they could do. "You said the portal almost worked," she said. "What if we tried that?"

"Zephyer took the sphere with her," said Knuckles, looking at the doctor's work and jerking his eyes away. "The spiral's broken. It won't work now."

The squirrel stared down at the poem, rereading the end part. She noticed one verse ... it was meant not to harm, but to banish. But because the emotions were so high at the time, the Master banished the echidnas further than it should have. That was why it had been recorded.

"Knuckles," she said, "read this."

She pointed out the verse, and he read it. "What about it?"

"It's supposed to relocate within Mobius," she said. "This was an extreme case and that's why they wrote it down."

He stared at her as he thought this through. "Then ... then maybe we can track them," he whispered. "The Master might find Zephyer because she's a Guardian."

Shepherd cut the thread and began wrapping cotton and gauze around Knuckles's leg. "You're not going anywhere for a while, Knuckles. You have to stay off this leg for a few days or you'll damage it even worse."

Knuckles looked mutinous. "What about crutches?"

Shepherd glared. "On your back for three days. After that, crutches."

Knuckles didn't answer, and looked out the window. Shepherd looked at him a long moment, then reached into his bag, rummaged around and withdrew a bottle of tiny pills. He extracted two and held them out. "Antibiotics. Take one when I leave and one tomorrow. Do you want some painkiller?"

"Why not?" said Knuckles, easing into a sitting position. Shepherd handed him a bottle with a few more pills, then beckoned to Sally.

She followed him outside and down toward the teleporter. "He won't stay off that leg, doctor," she told him in a low voice. "And I can't make him."

"I know that," said Shepherd with a smile. "Those antibiotics are also a powerful sedative. He'll sleep for seventy-two hours without twitching."

Sally gave Shepherd a strange look. "You can do that?"

"I have to sedate active-lifestyle patients," he told her. "Otherwise they don't rest long enough to heal. But keep an eye on him."

"I will," said Sally with a sigh.

She returned to Knothole and retrieved her Chaos Emerald tracker from a locked drawer in her desk. The only one of its kind on Mobius, Tails and Rotor had built it, and it was kept a dead secret. Sally used it to track Sonic by his chaos aura, unnaturally strong from prolonged contact with emeralds, and observe him when he was away from home. If he was on Mobius, she would find him.

Sally took it through the teleporter and hurried up to the house. She found Knuckles had limped to his room and was lying down, having just downed one of the sedatives. Sally looking in and sighed. "I was hoping you hadn't taken it yet."

"What?" asked Knuckles.

She gestured to the remaining pill. "Enough sedative to knock you on your butt for a day and a half."

Knuckles sat up, eyes flaming. "What? That jerk, there's no time! I can't sleep that long ..." His words dissolved in a groan, and he sank back on the pillow. "Works fast," he mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open. "Track Sonic, if not, track Zephyer, she's got the sphere. Tails has a strong aura, he's with them, maybe Shadow too ... Shepherd's gonna pay for this ..." And he was out like a light.

Sally closed the door and tiptoed out to set up the tracker.

* * *

The  
stranded Mobians rose to their feet. "We have to keep moving," said   
Mecha, striding forward along the bank of the gully. "The continued   
exposure to the sun will cut our changes of survival in half." They all   
knew he was worried about his chao, but no one said anything.

As they followed Mecha in single file, Tails said to Zephyer, "Hey, what'd you do with the sphere you had?"

"I left it where we landed," said Zephyer over her shoulder. She was carrying Aleda and stroking her constantly.

Tails looked back at the hilltop where they had started, and saw the sun gleaming off the crystal. "Wait a minute, I'm gonna go get it. We can't just leave it there."

"Yeah we can," muttered Zephyer, who now hated everything having to do with thrall spheres. Tails twisted his tails together, unfurled them with a snap, and rose into the air as they whirled like helicopter blades. He flew away overhead and back toward their starting point.

As they watched him, Rouge muttered, "Sonic will come back, won't he?"

"Yes," snapped Zephyer. "Like Shadow said, he might run a hundred miles before he finds anything."

"Unless he drops dead from the fumes," said Nack, "or falls in a volcano. We don't know what's out there."

Mecha's eyes glinted at the thought, but he said nothing.

Tails flew back to them, carrying the sphere, which had no glow in direct sunlight and looked like a ball of orange glass. He landed with a crunch on the rocks, panting and triumphant. Zephyer gave it a dirty look. "I'm not carrying that when you get tired."

"I know," said Tails. "I have gloves, so it's okay."

The group walked on, panting in the heat and listening in vain for some sound of Sonic returning. For a while there was no sound but the crunch of feet on loose rock, and the rattle of falling pebbles. The ravine wound aimlessly between the heaps of basalt and pumice, smoke and gas seeping out of the cones and making their eyes smart.

Tails found he was walking behind Mecha, and jogged forward to walk beside him. "Mecha," he said, "do you have any idea what world we're on, if it's not Mobius?"

"I have been pondering that," said Mecha, keeping his eyes on the ground to avoid stumbling. "I believe we are merely in an inhospitable region of a life-sustaining world. Notice the atmosphere. It is oxygen-based, and the pressure is equal to our own pressure two miles above sea level."

Tails had not thought of that. "Do you think we might still be on Mobius?"

Mecha cast him a glance. "Perhaps. In which case our situation is little better. Without access to navigational satellites, I cannot determine our location in relation to any settlements."

"But there's no way to tell?"

"No," said Mecha.

They walked in silence a moment, aware that the rest of the group was listening to them.

"Yes," said Mecha suddenly. "I carry volumes of information on Mobius's flora and fauna for research purposes. If we discover vegetation or wildlife, its identification, or lack thereof, will tell us if this is Mobius."

"We just have to find some flora or fauna," said Rouge. "If I see some, I'll let you know."

"Affirmative," said Mecha, ignoring her sarcasm.

At the rear of the group, Shadow cocked his head and gazed at the cloudless sky. "Zephyer," he whispered to the echidna, who was walking near him. She looked around at him, and he whispered, "Do you hear something?"

She shook her head.

He set Nox on his shoulder, then sprang out of line and shot to the top of the nearest rocky hill to scan the horizon. There it was again: a shrill, thin cry, drowned out by their feet on the rocks. To the south were three specks against the sky. He zoomed in his robot eye. Winged shapes-birds-circling and diving. They were pursuing something traveling north, and Shadow had an idea of who it was.

"Mecha," he said over the network, "birds are flying this way, and I think they are hunting Sonic. We may be in danger."

"What? Relay the image."

Shadow snapped a screenshot and relayed it to Mecha, who cursed quietly. Then he halted and informed the others, "Shadow has detected several bird-like creatures traveling in this direction. They seem hostile. Prepare to defend yourselves." He strode between them to Zephyer and said quietly, "Stay behind me. If any harm befalls Aleda, I will tear your face off."

"No need to make threats," said Zephyer. "I have a chao, too."

He held her eye for a second, then turned away and ordered everyone to pick up rocks. There was no shortage of this type of ammunition.

Shadow remained on the hilltop, watching the progress of the birds through the heat rippling off the ground. The hills hid their prey from view, but it was moving about as fast as Sonic would through the rough, twisting gully.

One of the birds broke off from the rest and flew toward Shadow. Its eyesight must be superb to pick out a black hedgehog standing on a black hill in the midst of black volcanic country. It was half a mile off, but approaching fast. Shadow watched it, trying to identify it, because he had heard what Mecha had said about telling if this was Mobius.

The other birds were drawing closer. Shadow turned and descended the hill to the others. "They are nearly here," he whispered, watching the sky. The group had picked up jagged rocks, and Nack and Rouge looked particularly bloodthirsty.

The first bird swept over and circled, looking at them. Its wings were long and narrow, like an albatross's, and its head was naked with a beak thicker and broader than its whole head, as if its diet consisted of bones and rocks.

It folded its wings and dove at Tails, sensing he was the weakest of the group. Tails heaved a rock and ducked out of the way, but the bird avoided the rock and raked at his head with its back feet. It was barraged with flying stones, some of which struck it hard enough to draw blood. It flew up in the air again with a hoarse squawk, then circled and dove at Tails again. They again beat it off with rocks, and Nack snarled, "If only I had my pistols, I'd teach him a lesson!"

Suddenly there were two birds circling, then three. The defenders heard footsteps and turned to see Sonic climb out of the gully, covered in dust and gasping for breath. There were bloody gashes across the top of his head and along his arms where the creatures had raked him. "Hi guys," he panted. "Sorry I led 'em back here, I thought they'd give up." He stooped and grabbed a rock as all three birds dove at once for Sonic, smelling blood.

Beside Zephyer, Mecha picked up a rock and tested its weight in one hand.

"Don't you have lasers or something?" Zephyer asked him, flinging a rock at the birds.

"No," said Mecha. "Not in this body design. All internal weapon systems were sacrificed for the sake of biological structure."

Sonic spindashed out from under the birds, and Shadow caught one by the leg in his robot hand. It shrieked and beat him around the head with its wings. Teeth bared and half-blinded, Shadow grabbed it by the neck and slammed it into the ground. The impact didn't seem to hurt it at all, and it flailed and screamed, trying to get up.

"Kill it!" Rouge shouted over the commotion.

Shadow hesitated-he didn't know how to kill something-and the bird's neck shot out, tearing at his eyes with its heavy beak. His robot eye took the brunt of the blow, but the beak scored across his muzzle and nose, and he recoiled with a whispering yell. Then Nack was there with a rock. He cracked it across the bird's head, and it went limp and lay still.

The other birds screeched and dove at Shadow and Nack. Ten feet away, Mecha took aim, calculated his trajectory, and threw his rock with all the power in his synthetic sinew. One of the birds took the rock right in the eye. The impact knocked it out of the air, and it flopped on the ground, stone dead.

The remaining bird saw its companions were dead, whirled and flew away over the rocky hills. A moment later they saw it again, a speck against the sky, circling higher and higher. "Report your status, all," said Mecha.

Sonic straightened up, wincing. "A few scratches. Nothing serious."

Shadow was wiping blood off his face and gingerly feeling his nose. "Mildly damaged," he whispered. "Annoying but not critical."

"I'm okay," said Tails, dusting off his fur. "You guys got 'em before they got me"

"And we're okay," said Rouge, dropping the rocks she was holding. "Aren't we, Nack?"

The weasel was watching the remaining bird circle. "Yeah," he muttered. "Man, if only I had my pistols ..."

Mecha walked up to look at the carcasses of the birds with Sonic.

"Hey Mecha," said Sonic, "that was some throw, there. This thing's head is caved in."

Mecha tried to ignore Sonic, but he was proud of the blow-he had never actually thrown a missile like that. "Yes," he said, stooping over his victim, "the stone left my hand at nearly five hundred miles an hour." He stretched out one crumpled wing and discovered that instead of feathers, the wing was thin skin stretched between bony fingers, covered with a layer of fine hair. It had no feathers on its entire body, for it was covered in fur like a bat, but the head was distinctly birdlike.

Rouge nudged the other with one toe. "I know these. These are jacaida."

Everyone stared at her. "How do you know?" asked Tails.

Rouge laid her ears back a second, then let them up again. "Jacaida are native to East Mobius. That's where I was born."

"Oh good, we're still on Mobius, then," said Tails. "Do you know how far from civilization we are?"

Rouge put her hands on her hips and looked around at the hills. "Not really. This is probably the Brimstone range on the southern continent, which covers a thousand square miles. There's no telling where we are in it."

"Well," said Sonic, "the smoke thins out a couple of miles down the gully, and there's some grass and stuff. That's why I turned back, because I figured once we're down there we can hunt water."

"And jacaida, too?" whispered Shadow. He was watching Sonic with jealousy-Sonic had sacrificed his own comfort to inject morale into the group, and everyone except Mecha was looking to him for hope.

Sonic shrugged. "The jacaida were flying around like that one guy is now. Like vultures or something."

"That's how they find food," said Rouge with a shrug. "They're pretty vicious. Can we go now?"

Everyone nodded and continued walking down the ravine's edge. Tails picked up the thrall sphere and walked beside Sonic, who was nursing his cuts and sucking them to stop the bleeding. "You okay, Sonic?" Tails asked.

The hedgehog nodded. "Takes more than a pterodactyl to hurt me. Were you guys okay while I was gone?"

"Mecha had to lay down the law," said Tails quietly, with a grin. "Don't tease him about his chao, he's very touchy about it."

"So that IS his chao?" Sonic muttered, looking over his shoulder. Mecha was walking with Zephyer, stroking the chao in her arms, and they were talking in low voices. Sonic did a quick headcount, came up one short, and realized Nox was missing. "Tails, where's Nox?"

Tails jerked his head at Shadow. "He's on Shadow's shoulder. You can hardly see him."

Sonic looked around and made out the chao's shape, hidden under Shadow's quills. "Okay then," Sonic muttered. "As long as we all make it out of here alive."

Nothing more happened for several hours. The group picked their way through the wasteland, growing thirsty and faint in the heat. They had already have a full day before the teleport, and being teleported to a different timezone meant that they were all having to stay awake eight hours longer than usual.

Zephyer, who had grown up in the desert, had them all select a pebble and hold it in their mouths. It kept everyone from breathing through their mouths and dehydrating so quickly.

The sun began to settle to their right, and the shadows grew on the sides of the hills. A breeze picked up, blowing dust and fumes into their faces, but also cooling their sweaty bodies, so they welcomed it.

In Zephyer's arms, Aleda had slipped into a sleep or coma, and did not respond to voices or handling. She had never been exposed to heat this extreme, and it was killing her. Mecha knew that if he carried her his hot external hull would kill her faster, so he stayed beside Zephyer where he could watch Aleda, even if he could do nothing for her.

Zephyer did not mind the heat-enjoyed it, in fact-but even a desert echidna could not tolerate hours of direct sunlight. She knew that if she was miserable, then the others must be suffering twice as much. Her arms ached from carrying Aleda, but she did not complain, for in the past few hours she had grown attached to the tiny chao. It also touched her to see Mecha's devotion. She had never thought he could feel affection.

They rounded a bend and saw that ahead of them the bleak stones were softened by patches of brown and green. They had reached Sonic's 'oasis'.

"Shadow," said Mecha through the network, "scan for possible water sources."

Shadow obeyed, looking for the densest vegetation, and Mecha did the same. A moment later Shadow whispered aloud, "Water is possibly further south. There is more vegetation."

"Good," said Rouge. "Come on, Tails, let's try for an aerial view." She opened her wings and fluttered aloft. Tails handed the thrall sphere to Sonic and followed her.

A day of walking in the sun had taken the edge off Rouge's attitude. She had been in survival situations before, and this group was holding together better than any she had ever seen. Probably because they were all afraid of Mecha.

She glided on the breeze, looking down on the wilderness. There was more green to the south, and she could even see some trees. Tails was higher than she was, hands cupped around his eyes. "Let's go that way!" he called, pointing toward the treetops.

On the ground, Sonic said, "I'll go check it out."

Shadow stepped forward. "No, I will."

The two studied each other for a moment. Shadow was doing this to annoy Sonic, but Sonic was tired and Shadow was not. "Fine, go," said Sonic.

The black hedgehog whirled and raced off, his hoverskates igniting and lifting him above the ground.

Nack grinned. "Looks like you two get along real well, don't you?"

Sonic glanced at the weasel. He didn't like his shifty eyes, or his oily voice, or his broken fang. Sonic shrugged. "He's the one with the problem."

"He's an android," said Nack, lowering his voice. "You can't trust androids. They'll slit your throat as soon as look at you. I know you and Mecha don't see eye to eye, either."

"Your point is?" said Sonic. He didn't like this conversation, and he was hurting and tired.

Nack leaned closer to him, eyeing the group. "We should kill the androids before they go after us."

"You're mental," growled Sonic. "You also shot Knuckles. You think I'm gonna listen to more of your bright ideas?"

Nack shrugged and turned away. Sonic shook his head, and stepped away to meet Tails as the fox parachuted to the ground.

Rouge descended in slow, lazy circles, finally landing and sitting down on a rock, wings open and sweeping back and forth, fanning her body. Nack walked up and sat beside her. "I don't like these people," he murmured. "Metal Sonic is bad enough. I've seen his kind in action. But that Shadow character ... how do we know his brain wasn't affected when he was split in two like that?"

"Shadow is perfectly sane," said Rouge, gazing off in the direction he had run. "He's saner now than I've ever seen him, in fact."

"But that's how they are just before they crack," whispered Nack. "You think they're all right, then wham! You wake up with your head screwed on backwards."

Rouge gave him a sidelong look. "Has he done anything to you?"

Nack avoided her eyes. "Not yet."

"Then don't stir up trouble," said Rouge through her teeth. "Not way out here."

Shadow reappeared in a cloud of dust, panting. "Water," he whispered. "It's foul-smelling and very hot, but it wells out of the ground half a mile that way."

"Lead the way!" said Zephyer.

Shadow turned, and the group jumped up and followed him, spirits rising at the prospect of water, any water.

The black hedgehog led them downhill, toward greener-looking grass and brush. Further on a few runty trees appeared, their roots twisted between the rocks. Then they came to a wide split in the land, as if the ground had ripped in two during some colossal earthquake. It had happened so long ago that the bottom, fifteen feet down, had filled with wind-blown dirt and was full of green grass and more trees. A hot spring bubbled out of the ground in a dozen holes, sending up wisps of steam. The water running from it had formed a stream that wound and trickled down into the grass, and there was damp marshy smell.

The group climbed, jumped or flew down into the canyon, and hurried to drink from some of the cooler pools away from the spring. As Shadow had said, the water was tainted with sulfur and tasted like rotten eggs, but none of them cared.

Zephyer and Mecha were last. Zephyer was very thirsty, but she was still carrying Aleda, and handed her to Mecha as she reached the floor of the canyon. Mecha gently took the chao, cradled her in his arms and stroked her face with one finger. It tore Zephyer's heart to see the once-murderous robot displaying such gentleness, especially because she knew deep down that Aleda wouldn't survive more than a few hours.

Mecha looked at her. "Slake your thirst. I will attend to her myself."

The echidna nodded and hurried to the stream. The water was muddy and probably crawling with bacteria, but when it hit Zephyer's throat it tasted better than a fine wine. She drank and splashed her face, and up and down the stream, everyone else was doing the same. Shadow and Sonic were bathing their scratches, Shadow carefully, so as not to wet his robot eye.

Mecha walked as far downstream as he could go, to where the water sank into the grass and reeds. He hesitated a moment, fighting with his hatred of water and the logical assertion that water could not harm his new body design. Then he stepped into the water, waded in up to his knees, and lowered in Aleda until her body was submerged. He carefully rubbed her face with a wet hand, then pried her mouth open and trickled in a few drops. She swallowed automatically, and he repeated the process, slowly and carefully.

He knew she had only a 10 change of survival, and cold logic assured him that his actions were futile. Her body was shutting down and could not process the water he was giving her, even with the stream pulling the excess heat out of her. She was too delicate for a climate as deadly as this, and she had entered it injured from the beating the Master Emerald had given them. He still felt the remnants of the pain behind his eyes, himself. But it was nothing to the pain in his heart. Here in his hands lay the only creature to ever love him of its own accord, now dying because of circumstances neither of them could help.

Upstream, the group was leaving the water one by one, shaking the water from their fur and sprawling on the grass in the shade. Zephyer had pulled off her shoes and was soaking her feet, watching Mecha. Sonic was bathing his cut arms and watching Mecha, too. Zephyer looked at Sonic, and they rose and walked down to the lone android and his chao.

Mecha lifted his head as they approached, but said nothing. Zephyer waded into the stream, and after a moment's hesitation, Sonic did, too. "Poor Aleda," said Zephyer, looking at the motionless chao. "I'm sorry, Mecha."

"She is not dead yet," growled Mecha. "There is no need for sorrow."

"Heatstroke is bad," said Sonic. "I've had it a few times. Make sure you keep her ears wet."

Mecha gave Sonic a scornful look. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm serious," said Sonic. "You lose a lot of heat through your ears, and it'll cool her off faster."

Mecha stared at him, trying to bridle his hatred and failing. It seemed whenever he was at a low point, the hedgehog appeared and tormented him. He could not understand why Sonic would want to help him, except to harm him in some devious way. Mecha knew how twisted the depths of his own mind were, and he assumed that everyone else-especially Sonic-operated the same way. After Sonic had defeated him, Sonic obviously wanted to crush him mentally as well as physically.

"Hedgehog," Mecha whispered through his teeth, "leave me alone or I shall be forced to defend myself."

Sonic shook his head in exasperation and splashed to the streambank.

Zephyer watched him go, and turned to Mecha with a scowl. "He's only trying to help. You ought to lighten up."

Mecha cast her a glare. "We have been enemies since I was constructed. He all but destroyed me at our last encounter. He means me nothing but harm, and having him here-now-with Aleda's lifesigns ebbing ..." He trailed off, words failing him.

Zephyer looked down at the chao too, and sighed. "I hope she gets better, I really do. But Sonic isn't as bad as you think he is. He's kind of tactless, but he'd help you if you'd let him."

"I do not need his help or his pity," Mecha growled. "Nor yours. It would be best if you left me alone as well."

Zephyer bristled. "I've helped you all day long, jerk. Fine, be that way!" She waded ashore, fuming, and Mecha watched her go. He didn't need anyone's help. Why was everyone so bent on helping him? He had done nothing for them. In fact, he had mauled all of them over the years. Perhaps their memories were faulty. A creature as foul as himself deserved no help, needed no help.

But he did wish that he could help Aleda.

He lifted her out of the water and carried her to the bank. He laid her on the grass and sat beside her, feeling the breeze drying his arms and legs. The sun was touching the tops of the hills to the west. It was 5:46 PM, local time.

Nox appeared, wading through the tall grass, his eyes bright and alert. Mecha hated him for his vitality; Aleda should be alive and playful the way Nox was. "Hi Mecha," said the black chao, bouncing up to him. "How's Aleda? Ohh ..." He trailed off, seeing her stretched out, senseless, under Mecha's gentle hand.

Nox hurried to her and bent over her, rubbing her face and eyelids with his paws. After a moment he looked up at Mecha, his eyes full of sadness. "She's down so deep I can't reach her."

Mecha lowered his head, letting his eyes close. Nox felt the surge of misery hit Mecha as if his own heart had been wounded. Nox was sad about Aleda, of course, but his grief was nothing compared to the scope of Mecha's.

Again, it was that emotion too vast for anger, too painful for violence. Mecha didn't know how to deal with it or express it, so he simply sat there, Nox's words ringing in his ears, and knowing that if Aleda died as an infant, she could not regress into an egg. She would merely die.

Nox felt Mecha's sorrow, but he didn't know that Mecha didn't understand it. Nox reached up and placed a paw on Mecha's arm. "Don't cry, Mecha," he said softly. "I'll try harder to reach her, okay?"

Mecha looked at him, eyes half-closed. "What did you say?"

"I'll try to reach her," Nox repeated, turning back to the baby chao on the grass. He sat down beside her and touched his forehead to hers.

"Why did you tell me not to cry?" said Mecha.

Without moving, Nox replied, "Because you're so sad. I can't stand it when people are sad. If you cry, it'll make me cry."

A revelation. This horrible feeling that was not anger was sadness. Mecha had no idea that the word 'grief' had anything to do with this overwhelming emotion that was threatening to swallow him. And one expressed it by crying. But he couldn't cry. He didn't know how.

As he watched Nox concentrate on Aleda, Shadow approached, surveyed the scene, then sat down beside Mecha. "Hello Master," he whispered.

"Hello Shadow," said Mecha quietly. "Status?" It was his way of asking, "How are you?"

"All systems operational," Shadow replied. "I'm no longer thirsty, but I'm hungry, and there is no food." There was a brief silence, then Shadow said, "How is your status?"

Mecha didn't want to know his status. He felt through the nerves and sensors throughout his body that his nanite fuel was too low, for he was tired and his muscles ached. Reluctantly he consulted his computer readout and winced. "The nano-fuel chambers are empty," he said over the network. "I have an estimated two hours left before the nanites absorb their reserves and begin consuming each other."

Shadow spun to face him, his natural eye wide in horror. "What? No!"

"Yes," said Mecha. "How ironic-it is now a race to see who will die first: the chao or her master."

Nox felt Shadow's burst of horror and grief like a bullet in the chest. Nox was much more sensitive to Shadow's moods than anyone else's, and for a moment the chao forgot he was trying to reach Aleda's mind; he was lost in the combined sea of Mecha's misery and Shadow's grief. It was too much for him to handle, and he doubled up and began crying as if his heart was breaking.

He had been so deep in Aleda's mind that the shock of what he felt penetrated deeper than he could have, himself. Aleda whimpered, stirred and opened her eyes, for a moment feeling everything Nox did. She, too, began to cry.

Mecha heard her voice and snatched her up with an odd gasp. He clutched her to him, stroking her and rocking her. Her sobs subsided to whimpers, and Mecha whispered that he was glad she was alive, and that everything was all right now. She crooned and purred, reaching up weakly to pat his lips and nose with a soft paw.

When he looked up again, he saw Shadow was holding Nox the same way, but Nox was still crying, unable to stop himself. As Mecha watched him, he felt a growing heat in his windpipe. "Shadow," he said over the network, "make him stop crying."

"I can't," Shadow replied via the network. "He's ... he's echoing me."

How convenient to have a chao who could cry for you. Mecha clenched a fist. "Shadow, make him stop! Now!" The longer Nox cried, the more he showed Mecha how it was done. Mecha didn't want to learn. Stupid, accursed emotions-they weren't supposed to have this much control over him. His eyes were growing hot, generating too much lubricant. Something inside of him was wilting, bending, softening-

He set Aleda beside him and rested his forehead on his knees, hoping to escape the notice of any onlookers. "Aleda," he whispered around the choking sensation in his throat, "this is all your fault."

Then he fell apart at the seams.

Shadow watched in astonishment as Mecha the expressionless, the emotionless, the calm and implacable, lost complete control and cried with his head buried in his arms. Mecha tried to smother his sobs and conceal his tears, but he couldn't; not when a lifetime of pent-up misery was sweeping through the floodgates. He beat one fist against the ground, hating this onslaught of emotional reaction, and he tried to keep his face covered with his other arm so Shadow couldn't see.

Aleda was distressed, for she had never seen Mecha cry before. She climbed into his lap and put her paws around his neck, talking and whimpering. "Stop it," he hissed as she reached up to touch the tears running down his muzzle. "You're making this worse." But she didn't, and he held her and hid his face against her fur.

The shame of it all! Emotions weren't worth the embarrassment they brought. And he couldn't seem to get ahold of himself, either. He was exhausted, defeated, and knew that in two hours he was going to die a death so painful it made being dipped in acid look pleasant. At the same time he was jubilant that Aleda was alive, and he wanted to laugh at the bitter irony that he was doomed while she would live. All of these jumbled emotions came out in tears.

Shadow reached over and awkwardly patted Mecha's shoulder. He, too, was distressed to see Mecha break down. In his arms, Nox groaned, "Oh no! I told him not to cry! He's so sad, Shadow. He's going to make me cry some more."

"No," choked Mecha, trying to sound fierce. "Nox, you brought me to this. Don't you dare cry any more, or I ..." Another sob overtook him, and he slammed his forehead into his knees in fury for not being able to control himself.

"He's going to die," whispered Shadow. "He's out of fuel, and he has to keep his nanite systems fueled at all times or it ... consumes itself."

"Then let's find him some fuel!" said Nox.

Mecha drew several deep, steadying breaths, wiping his eyes with the back of one hand. "There is no fuel out here," he said, his voice raspy but steadier. "It has to be a fluid high in proteins and certain amino acids. We have no supplies, and no way of processing the correct mixture if we did."

He turned his head and saw the rest of the group was watching from a distance, eyes wide in shock. They had seen everything. He groaned and turned away. "My humiliation is complete." He climbed to his feet, picked up Aleda, and walked toward the trees lining the canyon walls.

Shadow watched him go, then stared at the stream. Why should he be surprised? They would all starve to death out here, and Mecha was simply the first. Then his conscience smote him for being so cynical. He remembered the last few months of fighting Mecha to keep him alive. Mecha would have welcomed death then ... so why was fate so cruel as to condemn him now?

Shadow jumped up and began to pace. The truth was that although Shadow was sullen in the presence of enemies and rivals, he did not want Mecha to die. He was willing to do anything to save him, in fact. But what could he do? They had no food, no way of getting food, and it would do Mecha no good anyway. If only he had let Shadow install the upgrade to let him consume organic food! Stupid proud Mecha.

"Shadow," said Nox, watching the black hedgehog stalk back and forth, "why don't you tell the others? They might be able to think of something."

Shadow considered it. He had nothing to lose, and time was precious. He had read in Mecha's files of what happened when nanites cannibalized themselves, and he knew it was a horrible way to die. He couldn't let that happen, not after everything they had been through.

He walked toward the others, beckoning to them and cursing his whispering voice for the millionth time. Rouge and Nack regarded him suspiciously, then walked up, and Sonic, Tails and Zephyer did the same. Shadow told them that Mecha was basically starving to death, and would die in a few hours.

"Can't he shut down to conserve fuel?" said Zephyer.

"Not anymore," whispered Shadow. "Can you shut off your brain when you go to sleep? He operates much like an organism."

"Well, this is just dandy," said Sonic. "Here we're out in the middle of nowhere and he has to pull this. What's the fuel made of?"

"Proteins and amino acids," said Shadow. "Nutrients that the nanites feed on."

"Sorry, I left my amino acids at home," said Nack.

"He's not the only one who's starving," said Tails, holding his stomach.

Shadow nodded. "I know that. I'm hungry as well. But our bodies have fuel reserves enough for days more, and he has none."

The group gazed at each other in silence, then turned and looked at where Mecha was standing among the trees with his back to them, stroking Aleda.

"Well, he's done for, ain't he?" said Nack, pushing back his hat. "Too bad for him. Or not." He walked away down the stream, poking at its banks with a stick.

"Gosh, I hate him," whispered Zephyer.

"You would," muttered Rouge.

Zephyer shot her a nasty look and turned away.

Shadow shook his head, folded his arms and turned to watch Mecha. Sonic stepped up beside him, and the hedgehogs watched the android for a moment. Then Sonic looked at Shadow. "Why do you bother to put up with him, anyway? Look at what he did to you." He pointed at Shadow's robot half.

Shadow shrugged and didn't answer.

Sonic poked him. "Why not just ditch Mecha? Let him die and be rid of him. You wouldn't be a slave anymore."

Shadow gave Sonic a savage look, his ear pinned back. "You're so shallow. You think I remain with Mecha because he enslaved me? He programmed Mekion to be a slave, and Mekion isn't in control anymore."

Sonic studied him. "So why hang with him?"

Shadow turned to face Sonic, fists at his sides. Why did Sonic have to be so nosy? "There are two people in my life who ever showed me kindness. Only two. The first was Maria, and they killed her. I could have saved her, and that's haunted me my whole life. The second person ever to show me kindness was Mecha. He cared for me when I was helpless, which is more than I can say for any of you." Shadow had never articulated this to himself before now, but somehow saying the words made his conviction even stronger.

Sonic shook his head in disbelief and turned as if to walk away. Why didn't he understand? Shadow's eyes flamed. "Laughing at me, Sonic? Try laughing when it happens to you." He was trembling now, his fingernails digging into his palms. "I lost Maria. I'm not losing Mecha, too."

Sonic slowly turned back to him, ears laid back. "I'm sorry, Shadow, really. Um ... do we have any supplies at all?"

"No." Shadow turned his back, trying to calm down, shaking with the force of his emotion.

Sonic shook his head. "We just can't do much, Shadow. Sorry."

"Yes." Shadow opened his organic hand and looked at the nail-marks across his palm. He had nearly drawn blood, and made a mental note not to clench his fists so hard again ... then suddenly he looked toward Mecha. His eyes flicked between his hand and Mecha several times. Then he broke into a run, sprinting over the grass toward the blue android.

Mecha looked up languidly as Shadow approached. "Hello," he said. He was sitting on the ground with Aleda in his lap, gazing at the horizon and waiting for death. His red eyes were dim and defeated.

"Master," said Shadow, kneeling beside him, "I thought of something that could work as fuel. Would blood have the proper amount of protein?"

Mecha slowly turned his head and looked at Shadow. "Yes. But where will you acquire blood? No one around here will volunteer, I'm certain." His eyes shifted from Shadow to Sonic, who was walking up.

Sonic looked at them. "Something tells me Shads thought of something."

"Blood," whispered Shadow. "It contains the proper proteins."

"Not as many nutrients as I need," said Mecha slowly, "but it will keep me alive."

"Lovely," said Sonic. "Blood. Mecha, you're a vampire now, you know?"

"I am not drinking it," said Mecha, "and the nanites view it as nothing more than fuel. It is all the more imperative that we reach civilization after this."

"Shadow, wait," said Sonic, lifting a hand. "How are you going to get blood? We can't bandage any cuts, you know."

"I know," Shadow whispered. He extended his organic hand to Mecha. "Use your claws to slice my forefinger. Your claws are sharper than mine."

Mecha lifted a hand and stiffened his fingers, then hesitated. "Shadow ..."

"Do it," hissed Shadow, bracing his arm.

Mecha's hand trembled, and he dropped it to his side and looked down. "Shadow, I cannot harm you. Not again."

"Then do it to me," said Sonic unexpectedly, pulling off a glove.

Mecha and Shadow stared at him. "What?"

"I don't want Mecha to die," said Sonic. "It might be easier for him to hurt me. How about it, Mecha?"

Mecha's eyes narrowed, and he looked from hedgehog to hedgehog. "You are volunteering ... of your own free will? Do you know what you are asking, hedgehog?"

"Sure," said Sonic, still with his hand outstretched. "Do it, will you? Before I lose my nerve."

The opportunity was too good to pass up; the hedgehog ASKING Mecha to hurt him! Mecha reached out and sliced open the back of Sonic's hand with one claw.

Sonic gasped and recoiled, then held up his hand as blood welled up in the cut. "Dang, Mecha! Now what?"

"Come here," said Shadow, running his fingers over the biometal just below Mecha's left ear. The metal rippled aside to reveal a hole. "Let it fill that," said Shadow.

Sonic let his cut drip into the hole. "Barbaric," Sonic muttered. "I hope I bleed enough."

"I can cut you again," said Mecha with relish.

"No thanks," said Sonic. "You owe me for this."

"Yes, I'll share my blood with you," said Mecha, sneering.

Sonic bit his lips against the pain of his cut, wondering how long this ordeal would last. Shadow stooped over him, reading Mecha's signals over the network, his breath hot on Sonic's arm. Finally he said, "That's enough, Sonic."

Sonic withdrew his hand, which had almost stopped bleeding, and nursed it. "How often do you sharpen those claws, Mecha?"

"Once a week," said Mecha, flexing them. He said over the network to Shadow, so Sonic couldn't hear, "I have two fuel chambers, Shadow. He will not permit me to harm him again."

"I know," said Shadow silently. "I will handle it." He curled in his own robot claws and sliced open his organic hand. Teeth clenched, he opened the fuel tube on Mecha's chest and let his own blood fill the chamber.

Sonic turned and saw what had happened. "Shads, you really amaze me," he said, shaking his head.

"Why should it amaze you?" said Shadow. "I have been sacrificing my life to keep him alive for two and a half months. A small wound is no matter-my bloodstream has so many healing nanites in it that I will be recovered in a few hours."

"Lucky," Sonic muttered. "How about it, Mecha? Feeling better?"

"Vaguely," said Mecha. "My systems are not responding well. I will survive, but we must return to civilization as quickly as possible."

Sonic smirked. "That's kind of the idea, Mecha."


	10. Chapter 10

The Floating Island was silent and empty. The birds sang half-heartedly, as if some shadow of gloom hung over the island. One of the Guardians was gone, and the other was hurt and submerged in a drugged sleep.

Sally sat outside in the shade where the chaos energy tracker could make contact with local satellites. She had been scanning for hours, working continent by continent, searching for Sonic's unique signature. He could be anywhere in the world, and there were millions of Mobians with chaos signatures. She had located two chaos emeralds, and a laboratory in the human colonies where chaos drives were being manufactured, along with many other unidentifiable bright spots and patches.

She sighed and ran both hands through her hair. The fear that Sonic wasn't on Mobius at all kept eating at her. If he was gone forever, she didn't see how she could go on living. Sonic was her best friend, her right arm. Not to mention Tails was gone, too ... it was like losing her extended family.

With a pang she thought of Knuckles, temporarily removed from his loss as he was. He had lost Zephyer the way Sally had lost Sonic. If they couldn't locate the missing group, what would happen to Knuckles? She could easily see him losing his mind. She remembered him glowing green and coming to wreak havoc on the Freedom Fighters, and shook off the memory with a shudder. She couldn't lose hope so soon. Mobius was a big place, and she couldn't expect to scan the whole world in a few hours.

North Mobius came up nil. She zoomed out until the world map was displayed on her screen, and looked at it with her chin in one hand. She had eliminated West Mobius two hours ago, and North Mobius, the smallest continent, had been easy to clear because it had so few people. At least they weren't stranded on a glacier somewhere. Where to look next? Central, South and East Mobius remained, mocking her with their immense sizes. And she hadn't even begun searching the millions of islands.

She ran the poem through her mind again. The Master Emerald's goal was to move the offending parties as far from the island as possible. Hm. What was on the other side of the world from here?

Sally rose and hurried into Knuckles's silent house. The echidna was sleeping, chest rising and falling slowly, his face drained of all color. Sally didn't like the way he looked, but left him alone and combed the house for maps. Surely they had a globe in here?

She located a globe on a shelf in a closet, took it into the living room and examined it. The Floating Island was somewhere in the vicinity of Sapphire City, out in the Ausif Ocean. She placed a finger where she guessed they were, then rotated the globe to find the opposite side. Her other finger landed on a relief section of raised wrinkles on the globe's surface. East Mobius, Brimstone Mountain Range. There were towns along its outskirts, but none within the range itself.

She gazed at those little brown wrinkles for a long time. If the group had been dumped there, they were in a desolate region covering a thousand square miles along the length of East Mobius's east coast. It was a rift reduction zone in the tectonic plates, where one plate went under the other and bubbled up in volcanos and earthquakes. She set the globe aside, returned outside to her tracker, and set it to scan for Sonic's signature in the Brimstone range.

After a few minutes Nicole, the handheld computer plugged into the tracker, said, "Error, Sally. No satellites available in the vicinity."

"Will any satellites be in the area soon?" Sally asked.

"Affirmative," Nicole replied. "A communications satellite will travel over East Mobius at 2 AM tomorrow morning."

"Great," said Sally, feeling exhausted. "Schedule a scan for then."

"Affirmative, Sally."

Of course, no one was interested in looking at one of Mobius's most inhospitable spots. All she could do for now was wait.

* * *

On  
the other side of the world, night was settling in. The three factions   
within the group were leery of sleeping near the other, and they finally  
agreed to find places to sleep a good distance away from each other.   
Nack and Rouge, who got along with no one and each other least of all,   
each stalked off to sleep alone.

Sonic and Tails, who had slept out in the wild before, made themselves beds of leaves and grass, and Zephyer followed suit, feeling uncomfortable, but she didn't want to sleep alone on the ground with Rouge, Nack, Mecha and Shadow running around loose. Mecha was still sitting against the tree where they had left him, gazing at nothing with Aleda asleep in his arms. Shadow sat against the opposite side of the tree to keep watch, holding Nox.

"Those guys are scary," said Zephyer, watching the shapes of the red-eyed hedgehogs under the trees. "Sonic, what if they attack us during the night?"

Sonic flopped on his makeshift bed, lay there a moment, then got up and rearranged the leaves. "They won't bother us. I'm more worried about the jewel thieves."

"Can't trust them as far as you can throw them," said Tails. The fox was lying on his back, holding the glowing thrall sphere on his stomach. "One nice thing ... we have the only flashlight."

"I'd just as soon drop it in the spring," said Zephyer, resting her head on one arm and watching Sonic prod and poke his bed.

Finally he flopped on it and lay still. "Ahh," he sighed. "Perfect. Now all I need is a chilidog."

"Don't start," said Zephyer.

Tails looked at her-he was between Sonic and Zephyer-and said, "You can live for more than a month without food."

"That's nice to know," the echidna replied. "So if we don't die of thirst right away, we have plenty of time to starve to death."

"Eh, cheer up, Zeff," said Sonic. "We survived today. We'll probably survive tomorrow, too."

"But what about the day after that, and the day after that?" said Zephyer, rolling on her back and looking at the deepening blue dome of the sky. "What if we die out here?"

"What if we don't?" said Sonic. "What if we make it to a town tomorrow?"

"You don't know that."

"You don't know we're gonna die, either."

There was a long silence. Finally Zephyer muttered, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for being a wet blanket."

"Naw, it's okay," said Sonic, folding his arms behind his head. "We need a realist on the team."

It grew darker as the sunset's afterglow faded, and the stars brightened. They were in strange constellations, and it underlined how far they were from home. Zephyer looked at them and felt a growing homesickness rise in her. She missed the Floating Island, and her home, and Knuckles ... especially Knuckles. She had time to think about how Nack had shot him, and she worried about whether he was all right. She couldn't find out, or even let him know she was alive. He would be frantic, and what if he thought they were on some other planet, because of that poem? It would kill him.

Through her thoughts ran homesickness like an ache in her bones. She had taken the Guardian's Oath and was bound to the Floating Island. Leaving it was pain and being banished was agony; she knew that tonight she would have nightmares about horrible things happening to the island. Was it possible for a banished Guardian to pine away and die, cut off from their intended home? With her luck, it was quite possible. And poor Knuckles, all alone and hurt, with no idea of what had happened! She felt hot tears sting her eyes, but kept quiet and still. She didn't need an audience for her tears the way Mecha had had.

Sonic gazed up at the stars, listening to the faint hum from Tails's thrall sphere, oblivious to Zephyer. His hand still throbbed, but it had already developed a scab over the cut. Even with his malicious words, Mecha had been careful to only break the skin-he could have cut Sonic's hand off. Sonic wondered what had driven him to help Mecha, for they had been enemies since forever. But he wanted to help and be kind. He remembered talking to Slasher, and smiled. He wanted to heap burning coals upon Mecha's head. Maybe being stranded out here was a good thing.

Oh, but it was tough playing leader! Sonic knew how Sally felt. She had spent years facing bleak situations and putting the best face on it, never letting on that she was tired, discouraged or afraid. Sonic now had to do the same, but found that it came naturally. He had been in worse situations before, and knew that not giving up was half the battle. He and Mecha were holding everyone together ... he really should tell Mecha some of this, see if they couldn't work together ... His thoughts were fading into sleep, and his eyes sneaked shut.

Beside him, Tails was playing with the thrall sphere, which was glowing a warm orange, like a campfire. If he rubbed it certain ways, he could change the pitch of its hum. It would probably work better if he took off his gloves, but he didn't want to become hypnotized like Zephyer had been.

Playing with the sphere kept him from thinking about their situation-lost in East Mobius somewhere. It scared him. No matter what Sonic said, this was the bleakest adventure they had ever had. They didn't even know where they were. He wished he had thought to grab a Chaos Emerald before the Master Emerald kicked them out, but it had been hurting his head so badly that he couldn't think of anything. Then Sonic could have just teleported them all home. If Shadow hadn't taken the emerald ... or if Rouge and Nack didn't go after it ... he imagined a free-for-all fight on that first rocky hillside, and figured it was probably better that he hadn't grabbed a Chaos Emerald.

Too bad he couldn't get this thrall sphere to do anything. It was power crystal, but its power was through sound and vibration. An entirely different wavelength from Chaos Emeralds. What did it do when it hypnotized you, anyway? Didn't you just go to sleep? That was no big deal, because he was supposed to be asleep, anyway.

Tails looked furtively at Sonic and Zephyer. Sonic was asleep, and Zephyer had her back turned, probably asleep, too. Tails pulled off his gloves and touched the sphere with his bare hands. At once its hum was conducted through his bones and muscles to his ears; a pleasant, musical note. He took his hands off the sphere, and the sound stopped. He replaced them and it returned. No wonder it hypnotized Zephyer-he was relaxing and growing sleepy, himself. He stroked the sphere, varying its vibration and the pitch of its hum. Sonic always said that you used the Chaos Emeralds by finding the frequencies in them, and Tails could never feel or hear the frequencies. But he could definitely hear this sphere. He pushed his chaos field at it, holding each note with his hands, trying to find a combination that did something.

Something opened in his head, and suddenly he could hear other things; voices talking, the faint rustle of leaves and grass in the night breeze, the uneasy rumble of the earth beneath him. He sat up, looking around. Had it enhanced his hearing? He looked at Sonic, and instantly heard Sonic's heart beating and his slow, deep breathing. It was as if Tails's hearing had jumped into the ultrasonic range. Zephyer, too, was quiet. He trained his attention on Shadow and Mecha, thirty feet away and invisible in the darkness. They were talking, but not with their voices. Tails fumbled with his ears and the sphere, trying to tune in, and struck a note of the right frequency.

Suddenly he heard the canned-sounding radio voices of the androids talking over their network. "...three more days," Metal Sonic was saying. "In this harsh environment they will all die, unless we happen upon more hotsprings. I doubt they occur very often in these mountains."

"Yes, I know," said Shadow, and Tails jumped. Shadow's mental voice was not a whisper, for it sounded the way he had back on the ARK. It seemed Mekion was programmed with voice synthesis. Shadow went on, "I have been thinking about it, and tonight, in the darkness, I can leave on my own and try to locate the edge of the range."

"You would lose yourself," said Mecha. "Without satellite access we cannot maintain radio contact, and in this wilderness your chances of locating us again are negligible."

"I have to try," said Shadow fiercely. "I can't stand by and watch everyone die slow lingering deaths. Do you think Aleda will survive another day?"

"No," said Mecha, and there was a long silence. Tails felt guilty about eavesdropping on them, especially since they were trying to think of a way to save the whole lot of them.

He turned his attention from them and looked up the canyon, listening for Rouge or Nack. He located them far apart. Rouge was roosting in a tree, and Nack was stretched out on a heap of boulders above the hotspring. Their breathing was slow and heavy, already asleep.

Tails set aside the sphere so he could think. He could hear anything, it seemed ... could he hear things far away, too? Like, could he stay in contact with Shadow through the sphere, even when he was out of range of Mecha? How far could Tails hear, anyway?

He seized the sphere again, tuned it until he felt his hearing sharpen, then concentrated on his hut in Knothole. He had a clock that ticked very loudly, and he would recognize it anywhere. The world around him seemed to fall silent. He pushed his chaos field at the sphere, wondering if it needed power, and suddenly he heard it-his clock ticking. It was so clear that Tails felt a lump in his throat. That was home, and he missed it terribly. He released the sphere, and the sounds of the world around him returned. Well, that proved his theory. He could hear anything if he tuned the sphere for it.

The fox rose and carried the sphere toward Shadow and Mecha. Their red eyes turned toward him as he approached. "Hi," he called softly. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

He rubbed his hands over the sphere and picked up their network chatter. Mecha was grumbling, "There is that bothersome fox with the sphere. Many is the time he aided the hedgehog in fighting me ..."

"Sue me," said Tails aloud.

Mecha and Shadow stiffened. Tails heard Mecha say over the network, "I did not speak aloud, did I? How did he hear me?"

"Coincidence, maybe," said Shadow, watching Tails. "He has no machinery with him. There is no way he could tap our frequency."

"It's the sphere," said Tails. "It lets me hear you."

Mecha and Shadow were silent, and exchanged looks. Mecha said aloud, "You know that if you continue spying on our frequency, I shall be forced to harm you."

"I know, I'm sorry," said Tails. "I didn't know I was doing it at first." He licked his lips. "I heard you talking about trying to scout for civilization, Shadow. I can use the sphere to hear anything, anywhere."

The androids looked at each other, and Shadow said over the network. "Master, if we can do that-"

"Silence, he can hear you," said Mecha. Aloud he said, "That is an admirable offer, Miles, but unfortunately it is no good. Shadow can speak to you, but you cannot speak to Shadow. You can't direct him."

Tails looked at the sphere, ears flattening. It seemed like such a good idea. The note that enabled him to hear the robots still sounded in his ears. Suddenly he wondered if, by pitching his voice to that note, he could communicate. He hummed, trying to match the note, and when he again felt that hypnotic sleepiness, he half-sang, "Can you hear me?"

Mecha and Shadow jumped. Tails's voice sounded across their network, clearer than any machinery could transmit it. He had tapped their frequency through the wavelength itself, matching the vibration of the radio waves. "Yes," said Mecha, "we can hear you. Unfortunately. Is it so easy to tap?"

"Sort of," said Tails, forgetting to pitch his voice and ceasing to resound through the network. "It's hard to do, but I could get better at it."

Mecha's eyes narrowed. "It is ... dangerous to wiretap a mecha-bot, did you know that?"

Tails felt ice flood his insides. "Wh ... what do you mean?"

"Under any other circumstances," said Mecha, "I would have to kill you immediately. You are a third party listening to classified information. You would not be the first nosey person I have destroyed for that very reason."

"I just wanted to help," mumbled Tails, feeling the impulse to tuck his tails between his legs and slink away.

"And help you shall," said Mecha. "Shadow, go run. Miles shall be your contact."

Shadow leaped from a sitting position to a dead run, flashed across the canyon bottom, scrambled up a low spot in its side and was gone. Tails could hear the sweeping whoosh of his hoverskates, even though Shadow was now out of range of normal hearing.

"I recommend sleeping for a while," said Mecha. "We have a thirty-mile contact range, and your assistance is unnecessary until he is beyond that."

"Okay," said Tails, unable to keep from trembling. "Will ... will you really kill me?"

Mecha considered. "Your actions at present are excusable in light of the situation. But once we reach safety, if you tap our frequency again, I shall hunt you down and torture you to death, beginning by destroying your inquisitive little ears."

After that, Tails found all desire to sleep had deserted him.

* * *

Far  
to the south, in a rocky valley between two volcanic cones, the other   
banished intruder from the Floating Island awakened. His eyes flickered   
on and he sat up, confused and bewildered. Location unknown, time   
unknown, local satellite unavailable. Not only that, but his memorybanks  
were addled by the blast of punishing chaos energy. He had awakened   
with the robotic equivalent of a pounding headache.

Robo Knux climbed to his feet, bracing himself against a stone. Half of his systems were still running diagnostics for repairs. Whatever had happened, it had fried him. He must have been shot down while flying over the Floating Island, and from the looks of things, it had been a blast of chaos energy. He had underestimated Knuckles. He looked around, his sensors sweeping the area. Rocky. Volcanic gas streaming from vents. Heat radiating from the ground. His internal temperature was unacceptably high, so he surmised that he had been lying in the sun for most of the day.

Well, he was damaged, but the damage was repairable. Had Rouge and Nack succeeded in stealing the Master Emerald? That might explain why the Floating Island had turned into this smoking wasteland. The idea amused him.

He opened the channel for Nack's communicator and said, "Yo, Nack, you there?" No response. The idiot probably had the com turned off for the night. Robo Knux scanned the sky. Where was that satellite? There was a geosyncronous satellite over Sapphire City, and he had been in contact with it earlier. Without it he didn't know his location, and his internal clock needed updating. It had been offline with the rest of his equipment, and informed him it was 4 PM.

His stabilizer systems were still repairing, so for the moment he could not fly. But he could walk. He began climbing the nearest hillside, thinking to orient himself by looking for the mountains in the Floating Island's center.

After a few minutes of hard, rapid climbing, the robot arrived on the hilltop. He activated his infrared vision and scanned the landscape, turning in a slow circle. Wait a minute. There were no mountains in sight; only more broken, rocky hills that weren't really mountains. It matched none of his maps. Either the Floating Island had been levelled, or this wasn't the Floating Island. How could that be? He had been flying in the air before his blackout. Had he been hit by a malfunctioning teleporter beam?

That was more likely. His alarm was replaced by cool calculation. He had been warped to the middle of nowhere. No problem-he would fly out once his instruments returned online. He had plenty of fuel, and his power core was functioning at optimum levels. He sat down on a rock to wait for his repairs to finish, and listened to the hiss of the gas vents around him.

* * *

Shadow  
was running in a straight line west, or as close to it as he could. He   
had selected a patch of stars as his guide, and used it to straighten   
himself out in the winding ravines and gullies between the hills and   
rocks. Running at night was enjoyable for him, almost relaxing. There   
was no sun to bake him or blind him, and the highly-sensitive night   
optics in his robot eye could come into play. So he skated where he   
could and ran where he had to, glorying in his speed and the darkness.

Every ten minutes Mecha pinged him, and Shadow was grateful for the contact. He was traveling so fast that in another fifteen minutes he would exceed their thirty-mile range, and then Shadow would have to rely on that fox and his hacker-sphere. And the fox couldn't use the sphere very well, either. Shadow didn't let himself dwell on what would happen if he couldn't find his way back to the oasis by dawn. It was too awful to contemplate.

He ran on, breath coming easily, weaving between hills and cutting over them when they barred his way. Gas vents opened before him, spouting fumes hot enough to scorch his fur off. He avoided them and kept running, using his infrared setting to detect them. Several times he saw orange threads of lava and felt the ground roll and groan beneath him, as if the earth itself was in torment, expelling its entrails on the surface.

Mecha's signal was growing faint. Shadow said over the network, "I am nearly out of range."

"Affirmative," said Mecha. "I will instruct Miles to track you."

"If this doesn't work," said Shadow, "I'm returning immediately."

"Negative," said Mecha, his voice suddenly harsh. "You are to continue until you locate civilization. Retrieve supplies and then seek to return. One of our party must survive this."

Shadow slowed to a halt and looked back across the barren hills. "Mecha, is this a clever ploy to destroy yourself once I am gone?"

"No," said Mecha. "I will die whether you are here or not. As will the others. Thus you must succeed."

Shadow turned, located the star cluster again and resumed running westward. He felt a cold anxiety settling over him. With every mile that passed under his feet, he was setting a longer and longer journey for his companions. Even if he could find a town out here, it might take weeks for the others to pick their way through this terrible country.

Ten minutes passed, and no more contact pings from Mecha arrived. He was out of range. Shadow set his teeth and kept running, alone and with a silent network. He had his orders and he would carry them out if it killed him, but it did not stop him from growing afraid. This country was so immense, so hostile, that even the ultimate lifeform was no match for it. He briefly thought of the torture that would begin once the sun rose, and brushed the thought aside. "Concentrate on speed, Mekion," he told himself. "That's all that matters now."

Mekion, the robot part of his mind, replied, "Shadow cannot keep up this pace all night."

"I know," Shadow replied. "I'll rest when I can't breathe properly anymore. How far can I travel tonight?"

Mekion ran the numbers through his databanks and replied, "At current speeds, we can travel up to three hundred miles before dawn."

Shadow nodded, even though he was responding to his own mental voice, and kept running.


	11. Chapter 11

"He's running," said Tails, eyes fixed on the horizon, the glowing sphere in his hands. "I can hear him."

"Reach the network frequency and let him hear you," said Mecha. "He is uneasy about your reliability."

Tails rubbed his hands slowly over the sphere's surface, ears swiveling this way and that as he listened. Then he hummed to match the note, and half-sang, "Hi Shadow, can you hear me?"

Mecha winced as the fox's voice rang in his head, and watched Tails's face.

After a moment Tails grinned, hearing a reply that Mecha could not. Tails half-sang again, "Keep going, I can hear you."

They were sitting under the trees, cloaked in darkness but for the orange glow of the sphere. Mecha was still leaning against a tree trunk, seated on the ground with Aleda asleep in his lap. When Shadow had left, Nox crept to Mecha's side and curled up as close as he could without actually touching Mecha. The chao was feigning sleep and listening to Tails and Mecha, reading their feelings and praying that Shadow was all right.

Tails looked at Mecha's glowing red eyes and said in a low voice, "This is new for me. I can't use Chaos Emeralds at all. Only Super Emeralds and thrall spheres."

Mecha nodded. "I, too, have never been able to manipulate Chaos Emeralds. Even after extensive training and upgrades, I cannot use them except in the most imprecise ways."

"But you can use your chaos field," said Tails. "I saw you do it on the Annihilator."

Mecha actually twitched. "Do not speak of that."

"Sorry," said Tails, looking down at the sphere. "I was just wondering-I mean, can you still do that? You know, change the weather?"

"No," said Mecha so quietly that Tails could hardly hear him. "My defeat and ensuing injuries have weakened me. I have tried using the field again, and it is difficult to the point of impossibility."

The note of depression and self-loathing in his voice startled Tails, and the fox fell silent and listened for Shadow.

After a while Mecha said, "It is understandable why you cannot manipulate Chaos Emeralds. You are a kitsune."

Tails looked up. "I'm a what?"

"A kitsune," Mecha repeated. "When I was first dispatched against the hedgehog, you were with him. A bi-tailed fox. I had no records of you, so I researched you to estimate your threat level."

"My threat level?" said Tails, grinning. "Am I dangerous, then?"

"Teamed with the hedgehog, you are," said Mecha. His voice was flat, but there was a hint of a smile about his eyes. "Kitsunes are a race of foxes with such strong chaos fields that it has mutated their bodies in odd ways. Those with two and three tails can fly like you. Those with more tails have fields so strong that they must live in isolation, much like Cream the Rabbit. They cause earthquakes, floods and power blackouts simply by walking down a street."

"Wow," said Tails, staring. He had never thought that his two tails were important, beyond making him a freak and letting him fly. "So why can't I use Chaos Emeralds?"

"The kitsune race exchanged the ability to use Chaos Emeralds for the power of the field," said Mecha. "Thousands of years ago they purged their race of all foxes with weak fields, who could nonetheless use Chaos Emeralds. Only those with strong fields, but who were out of resonance with the Chaos Emeralds, were allowed to reproduce. And here you are."

"But ... I used them when we fought you," said Tails, thinking.

"Yes," said Mecha. "You were powered by your companions' supercharged chaos fields. Super Emeralds resonate their power differently, which is why you can use them."

Tails was quiet for a while, thinking about this. "So," he said slowly, "I could summon storms and build giant machines like you did on the Annihilator?"

Mecha stiffened and closed his eyes. "Please," he whispered, "do not speak of that night. It was the height of my pride and folly, and the eve of my destruction."

"Sorry," said Tails again. "But could I?"

"With the correct training," muttered Mecha. "I spent many hours practicing before I could manage it."

"Could you teach me?" said Tails, eyes wide.

Mecha avoided the question. "Ping Shadow."

Tails obeyed, and heard Shadow's reply: "Affirmative. All is well, still en-route."

"He's okay," Tails reported. "Mecha, could you train me to use my chaos field?"

"No," said Mecha. "Why should one of my foes learn skills that he will later use against me?"

"We can be friends, and then you could teach me," said Tails. "Why can't you be friends with us? We're all on the same side right now."

"Because we all have a common enemy," said Mecha. "Our environment. When we return to civilization, we will go our separate ways, and my projects may conflict with your interests, putting us at odds."

"You don't have to build bad things," said Tails. "I build stuff all the time, and I don't use it to hurt people. If you didn't hurt anyone, nobody would care what you did."

"Yes they would," said Mecha. "For instance, my quest to upgrade a robot until its functions exactly mimic biological life. After Dr. Robotnik's affects on the robotics industry, my work is seen as quasi-terrorist and unethical."

He sounded so glum at this prospect that Tails, without meaning to, reached over and patted Mecha's arm. Mecha flinched and cringed away, and Tails withdrew.

"Mecha," he said softly, "are you supposed to be so hot?"

Mecha folded his arms as if to keep them out of Tails's reach. "No," he said. "My internal temperature is thirty degrees above normal. As I said earlier, my nano-structure is not responding well to blood as a fuel source."

"Are you sick?" Tails asked.

Mecha was silent a moment, then said, "In a way, yes. My systems are not performing at optimal levels, and it has forced my power core to generate excessive heat."

Tails hung his head. "And Sonic thought he was helping you."

"He did," said Mecha, grudgingly. "Had he not donated his blood, I would now be dead, or dying in the most painful fashion."

"Better sick than dead, huh?" said Tails with half a grin.

"Yes," said Mecha. "Ping Shadow."

Tails tuned into the network with his sphere and said, "Doing okay, Shadow?"

"Affirmative," Shadow replied. "En-route. There is a faint glow on the horizon westward, and I am traveling in its direction."

Tails looked at Mecha. "Shadow thinks he can see lights from a town. He's heading for them."

Mecha smiled, startling Tails. "Perhaps he will return before daylight. I do not like gambling, but this was a risk we had to take."

There was a long silence. Tails was growing sleepy, and was secretly marvelling that he was not afraid of Mecha. The robot had haunted his nightmares for years, and here he was carrying on a conversation with him. Tails found himself actually liking Mecha, for under Mecha's viciousness he and Tails had a lot in common: a passion for learning, and building things, and a certain insecurity. Tails supposed Mecha had had weaknesses before, but now his weaknesses were so much like Tails's own-hunger and fever among them-that Tails identified with him.

With this liking for the android came the desire to be his friend ... and to have Mecha share friendship with everyone else Tails loved. Like Sonic.

"Mecha," said Tails, "do you still hate Sonic?"

"Yes," said Mecha, as if Tails had asked, "Do birds fly?"

Tails frowned. "Why?"

"He is my enemy," growled Mecha. "He was the cause of my defeat and humiliation."

"Aside from that," said Tails. "If you had beat Sonic, would you still hate him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because ..." Mecha fumbled for words, trying to phrase to himself a logical reason for his hatred. His old arguments, which he used to run through his mind like a mantra, were obsolete now.

Sonic was faster. But Mecha had matched his speed.

Sonic could heal an injury. But Mecha could do that too.

Sonic was biological and Mecha was a robot, a cheap copy. But Mecha was almost completely biological now, although he was still in the process of weaning himself from his old robotic technology. And he differed from Sonic now in everything except race and name. He hated Sonic because he hated Sonic-irrationally, loathing everything about him.

"I just do," he spluttered.

Tails frowned. "Even after he gave you his blood? What does he have to do to make you not hate him anymore?"

"I-he-" Mecha stammered into silence. The idea of not hating Sonic was revolutionary. He loved hating Sonic. It was his primary pastime. But Tails was right, for not only had Sonic let Mecha hurt him, he had given his blood. The life of a creature was in its blood. Mecha knew what a sacred thing it was that Sonic and Shadow had done for him.

Mecha had appreciated Shadow's utter devotion to him, but he had not considered what it had meant that Sonic, too, had helped keep Mecha alive. How dare Sonic try to bridge the gap of enmity! Mecha suddenly hated him worse than ever, his hatred this time fueled by guilt. Guilt that Sonic was no longer acting like an enemy. Sonic was trying to make amends, and Mecha was in the wrong to go on hating him.

Just as it had been wrong for him to attack Shadow when Shadow came to him, begging forgiveness, on that night when Mecha's pride and folly had ruled supreme ... he recoiled at the memory. Hating Sonic was the definition of his life. But even as this thought crossed his mind, he knew it was feeble and shallow. His own development had been hindered by his hatred, and it wasn't until he learned to set it aside that he could concentrate on other things, like rebuilding himself. And now he was back where he had started.

He turned on Tails in fury. "This is none of your business, fox. You have no right to tell me what to think, and besides, the hedgehog probably put you up to this, didn't he?"

"No, sorry," said Tails, looking down. "I didn't mean to make you mad, I just-"

"Well, stop trying to help," snapped Mecha. "Because you are not helping at all."

A stoney silence followed. Mecha brooded with his chin on his chest, refusing to look at Tails. Tails kept his eyes on the thrall sphere, wishing he had gone to sleep like a good fox and left Mecha alone. After a while it occurred to him that he hadn't listened for Shadow in a while, so he tuned in.

Shadow was standing still, catching his breath, and Tails could hear his heart pounding. "You okay, Shadow?" said Tails.

"Yes and no," Shadow replied. "I have located a road and will proceed to follow it. But I ..." He trailed off.

"But what?" asked Tails, aware that Mecha was watching him.

"There is a third party on this frequency," Shadow whispered aloud.

Tails could hear him, for he could hear everything in Shadow's vicinity with the sphere. "Who is it?" he asked.

"I only detected the additional connection a moment ago," whispered Shadow, preferring not to speak over the open frequency. "It could only be Robo Knux."

"Robo Knux!" Tails exclaimed, and beside him Mecha inhaled sharply.

"Yes," said Shadow. "Have my Master shut down his network hardware, or the enemy will track him."

"Gotcha," said Tails. He turned to Mecha. "Shadow says turn off your network hardware. He's picking up Robo Knux on the network, and he's afraid he'll track you."

Mecha hesitated a moment, then said, "Affirmative."

* * *

Robo  
Knux stood up and cocked his head. A new connection to his internal   
network had been acquired. He pinpointed its location-eight miles to the  
north-and targeted its ID. Mecha-fusion: Unit Alpha.

Shadow.

If Robo Knux could have grinned evilly, he would have. "Greetings, Shadow," he said. "What's a nice cyborg like you doing in a place like this?"

Shadow didn't answer, and his coordinates were changing. He was running. Robo Knux checked his internal repairs. His jet controls were operation, but his stabilizers still had hours worth of work to go. He couldn't fly yet, but he could run and hover at high speeds.

He ignited his jets, each dreadlock spurting a blue flame from its end, and rocketed down the hill northward.

* * *

Shadow  
ran like the wind down a narrow dirt road. It was made of packed   
gravel, and in places was cracked and broken from the shifting of the   
ground. But it cut through hills and was graded for vehicles. Shadow had  
spotted it by accident when he stopped for breath, and it offered the   
perfect racetrack. He could really extend himself now and push his   
muscular body to its limits.

He checked his radar and saw Robo Knux was pursuing him, zigzagging through the hills. Shadow felt a burst of fear and consulted Mekion for advice. "Pace yourself," Mekion replied. "Do not allow him to frighten you or he has won already. Our current speed is 150 MPH, and we can maintain that speed for half an hour on an open road. Do not accelerate."

Shadow continued skating, sweeping along on a cushion of air, and watching Robo Knux gain on him.

Ahead, out of scan range but within sight, the horizon was lit by a yellow glow, slowly spreading out to dim the stars. Shadow was hoping it was a city, not a town. In cities there were lots of people, and food, and hiding places. If he could beat Robo Knux there ...

Robo Knux reached the road and swept up it in Shadow's wake, jets roaring. "So much for stealth," thought Shadow with a smile. Shadow ghosted along, a flicker of light from his hoverskates, a rush of air, and he was gone. Robo Knux screamed along like a low-flying jet, a cloud of dust in his wake, audible half a mile away.

Robo Knux's voice rang over the network. "Hello, Shadow! Not as fast as usual, are you? I thought you were in a hurry to get somewhere!"

"No," Shadow replied. "I was out for a moonlight stroll."

"On a moonless night through a volcanic waste at one hundred fifty miles an hour," said Robo Knux. "What are you doing here? Is Metal Sonic here?"

"I am avoiding you," said Shadow, checking his radar. Robo Knux was half a mile behind him and closing fast.

"You won't avoid me long," replied Robo Knux. "If Mecha is here, you're out of his range. No one will hear you scream for help."

"I don't plan to do any screaming," Shadow replied. "Mekion, should I accelerate?"

"No," Mekion replied. "He can maintain speeds up to Mach two for hours, which you cannot do. Remain at 150 MPH and he will match your speed. When the settlement is reached, then you will accelerate into a sprint and catch him off guard."

"I heard that!" said Robo Knux. "It's nice having a robot think for you, huh Shadow?"

A quarter of a mile separated them now. Shadow flashed over hills and around curves, holding his breath as he passed through noxious fumes wafting across the road. The light ahead was brighter. Suddenly, as he crested a hill, he glimpsed the lights like a golden starfield clustered against the blackness of the land. It was twenty miles away, but the sight gave Shadow hope, and he skated for it as his breath came harder and rougher.

The hills shrank, and the road sloped downhill more and more. Shadow smelled vegetation, a freshness in the air. He kept going. Robo Knux was three hundred feet behind him, a pair of green eyes in a ring of blue fire. "I've wanted to kill you since Mecha dragged you in," said Robo Knux over the network. "You were such a pitiful little rat, half-dead, crying over your miserable chao. Becoming Mekion hasn't made you any stronger."

Shadow didn't answer him. All of his energy was focused on the road, and he had no breath for insults. He watched his radar as Robo Knux closed to two hundred feet. One hundred feet. Fifty feet. Shadow glanced back and saw the robot had extended his arms, diamond-tipped claws held like javelins.

"Accelerate," said Mekion.

Shadow obeyed, forcing his tired muscles to work harder, shooting into a final downhill sprint toward the city lights. The gap between himself and his enemy widened to an eighth of a mile, and then Robo Knux, too, accelerated. "You're fast, but I have the stamina," jeered Robo Knux. "Let's see how long you can maintain three hundred miles an hour! You're sucking wind already."

Shadow was indeed tiring and had only made it so far because he had paced himself. But at his new speed the city was drawing closer and closer, and the road ran straight toward it, broad, clear and paved with asphalt. He forced himself to run faster, unhindered by friction, which meant he couldn't stop without shutting off his hoverskates. Robo Knux had the same problem because he wasn't touching the ground, and-

An idea came to Shadow. He pushed himself to 350, his breath tearing his lungs, muscles burning. Then he calculated Robo Knux's position as accurately as possible, set his feet and skidded to a halt with a screech of rubber and metal on pavement.

Robo Knux had not anticipated this, and his stabilizers, which acted as brakes, were not yet repaired. He swept past Shadow, his claws raking the air, his momentum carrying him a mile further. Shadow stood on the road, his hoverskates scraped and blackened, gasping deep, delicious breaths into his empty lungs.

He stood perfectly still, watching his enemy on radar. Mekion prodded Shadow, but Shadow ignored him and concentrated. This would be close. Robo Knux had stopped, turned around and was rocketing back, accelerating with his claws held in front of him. Shadow stood stock still, using every second left to rest and catch his breath. He was good at playing chicken. The trick wasn't to let yourself think about what would happen when it hit you; instead you had to calculate its speed against how long it took you to jump aside, and Shadow was excellent at instanious calculations.

It happened in a fraction of a second. Robo Knux's claws sliced through the air where Shadow's head had been, but Shadow was gone, shooting sideways in a spindash. As Robo Knux roared past with a stream of curses, Shadow landed on his feet and made for the city as fast as he could. His muscles were energized from their brief rest and fresh oxygen, and they propelled him to four and five hundred miles an hour, the wind slicking back his spines.

Streetlights. Buildings. Cars. Shadow entered civilization before he knew it, and suddenly there were obstacles everywhere that would kill him as effectively as Robo Knux could. He shut down his network hardware, skidded down the road and around a turn, his hoverskates taking even more damage. Now to find someplace dark and make himself invisible for a while. He spied an open window, leaped through it and found himself in the courtyard of a house, filled with potted plants and paved with cool stone.

Shadow dove into a corner behind a screen of shrubs and sat still, his breath noisy in the sudden hush. Robo Knux roared by in the distance, confused, for Shadow had vanished from radar.

Shadow smiled. Mecha would be proud.


	12. Chapter 12

Knuckles opened his eyes and immediately closed them. His head felt like an overriped watermelon, ready to burst at the slightest movement. By the light shining in the window he knew it was early morning. The sedative had worked, all right, and now he had a hangover. Maybe that medication had been too strong.

He lifted his head and propped himself up on his elbows, blinking. The movement sent a sharp pain through his leg, and he remembered his wound and the events around it. Combined with how rotten he felt, it did nothing to improve his mood. Zephyer and the rest were still gone, and the island was silent around him; layers and layers of silence, like lying on the bottom of a still lake. He couldn't even hear any birds singing, which was odd for dawn. He grunted to assure himself that he hadn't gone deaf, and sat up, holding his head. He wasn't touching that other sedative pill no matter how bad his leg hurt.

The movement sent another pain through his leg, and he remembered he wasn't supposed to put his weight on it. He had some crutches around here somewhere, but Zephyer had stashed them away. He missed her with a pang deeper and sharper than any pain in his body. Zephyer, you idiot, why did you have to grab the sphere?

He stood on one foot and groped along the wall to the closet. There was one crutch in the corner. Hadn't there been two? He didn't remember, and there was no one to ask. He grabbed the single crutch and propped it under his arm. Then he hobbled out of his room, feeling thirsty and intending to visit Hidden Palace and try to locate Zephyer as soon as possible.

He entered the living room and saw Sally asleep on the couch, under a blanket. Oh yeah, he'd forgotten she was here. Nice of her to stay with him. Hadn't she said something about that chaos tracker? He looked around the living room for it, didn't see it, and entered the kitchen. The tracker was set up in the windowsill, its tiny satellite dish aimed at the sky. The square, black tracker was plugged into Nicole the palmtop computer. There was a map on the screen with several bright blips on it.

He lunged for the tracker. "Nicole!" he gasped. "What're those blips on the screen?"

"Hello Knuckles," said the computer. "Displayed on screen are images taken of Eastern Mobius's Brimstone Mountain range at 2 AM this morning."

Knuckles had to wet his lips before he could speak. "Have any of those blips been identified?"

"Yes," said Nicole, highlighting two. "Two of the recorded signatures match those of Sonic and Tails."

So they were still on Mobius! The relief hit him and he felt the backs of his eyes grow hot. But East Mobius- He limped to a cabinet, opened it and took down his navigation maps. He unrolled one and squinted at the lines and tiny writing. His headache made reading it difficult, and his excitement made his head pound all the more. East Mobius was halfway around the world from the Floating Island's current position ... the Master Emerald probably did that on purpose ... his finger swept over the continent until he located the Brimstone Mountains. There were a lot of them.

He looked at Nicole's screen again. The group was on the western edge, it looked like ... how could he get there and pick them up before something happened to them? Mecha, Shadow, Nack and Rouge, all mixed up with Sonic, Tails and Zephyer? It couldn't end well.

Knuckles retrieved a glass of water and was sitting at the table, deep in thought, when Sally looked in. "Hello Knuckles," she said. "What're you doing up?"

"Drugs wore off," he said without taking his eyes from the map. "They're in East Mobius."

Sally went through the same motions he had; running to Nicole, identifying the blips, then spinning to check the map. Hope lit her face like a torch. "It found them! Oh, I'm so glad! Can we get down there?"

"I'm thinking about it," said Knuckles, frowning and massaging his forehead.

Sally looked at the map a moment. "Could we use a teleporter?"

"Too far," said Knuckles. "As Sonic found out a while back, you can only teleport so far before the power runs out, and it drops you somewhere you didn't mean to land. The Floating Island teleporters have a range of about two thousand miles." Talking made his head hurt, and he closed his eyes and took a drink of water.

Sally frowned and fidgeted, looking worried. "How long would it take to move the Floating Island that far?"

Knuckles pulled out another map and pointed to a spot on it. "We're here. A chunk of rock this big doesn't move very fast. It'd take about two months of steady travelling to get to East Mobius."

Sally chewed a nail, something Knuckles had never seen her do. "Do you know what East Mobius is like?"

"I've visited the northern part," said Knuckles.

Sally pointed to the Brimstone mountains. "I visited the southern continent as part of a delegation party once. It would be considered the largest desert on Mobius if it wasn't covered in active volcanos. They told me that if you get lost out there, your life expectancy is three days."

Knuckles said nothing. It figured that the Master Emerald would dump them in the most inhospitable spot on the planet. He rubbed his forehead again, feeling as if his brain was trying to burst through his skull. Maybe food would help break up this hangover-food and strong coffee.

He rose carefully from his chair, grasping his crutch and easing his hurt leg around the chair without jarring it. Sally jumped up. "Here, let me help you."

"No, I'm fine," he growled, making it to a standing position. He limped past Sally to the pantry and pulled out a bag of ground coffee. As he moved for the coffee pot, he held up the bag and said, "Real live Bersathan coffee. Hope you like it black, Princess."

"Where did you get that?" she asked, moving to the pantry and poking around inside.

"Bersatha," said Knuckles, filling the pot. "A Floating Island can go anywhere. And does." He missed Zephyer suddenly-it came in flashes and waves, as if he had had a limb amputated and kept remembering it was gone. Each time he remembered she was gone, a pain pierced through his heart like being stabbed over and over. She had been torn away from him and dumped in some volcanic desert where your life expectancy was three days. He had to DO something! But what could he possibly do? East Mobius was too far away ...

He had coffee and breakfast, deep in thought about supercharging a teleporter, or teleporting the island itself. Sally kept her thoughts to herself, but he knew from the way she kept looking at the tracker and the maps that she was thinking of rescue attempts, too.

Suddenly she turned to him and said, "We'll have to call someone down there and have them pick up the others."

Knuckles stared at her. This simple thought had not occurred to him. Leave it to Sally the politician to think of a people-oriented solution. "Like who?" he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Black as oil, just how he liked it.

Sally looked at the map again, running her finger along the mountain range. "The governor of their district, I think ... I'll have to look up his office. You mind if I run back to Knothole and make some calls?"

"Go ahead," he said. "I'll be in Hidden Palace when you come back."

"Right." She looked at his bandaged leg. "You're supposed to stay off your feet, you know ..."

"Sally," said Knuckles, glaring. "Can it."

She looked exasperated, turned and left.

Gosh, he missed Zephyer.

* * *

Hours passed. The globe turned, and as the day progressed on one side, the night deepened and grew old on the other side.

Tails narrated Shadow's race with Robo Knux for Mecha's benefit, and heard when Shadow hid in someplace that rustled. Then Mecha dismissed Tails, who was beginning to yawn, and the fox carried his sphere back to Sonic and Zephyer and curled up between them.

Mecha remained awake to keep watch. He was not tired, as a real organic creature would be, and it vaguely annoyed him, for there was too much robot about his makeup. But he could dream now. His nightmare about Robo Knux haunted him. Robo Knux was here somehow. Shadow had led him away, but when Shadow returned, what would prevent Robo Knux from trailing him?

Mecha was afraid, and stroked the sleeping Aleda to comfort himself. Then there was Tails's remark about hating Sonic ... it still filled Mecha with pointless rage. There was no reason now to hate Sonic, but he wanted to anyway.

So he sat there under his tree, staring into the darkness with a silent network, burning with fever and anger, and shivering with fear.

* * *

On the Floating   
Island, Knuckles limped to the teleporter on his crutch and beamed down   
to Hidden Palace. The quiet blue cavern felt empty and lonely after all   
the activity of the previous week, and all the gems looked dim and   
washed-out to him. Even the two thrall spheres were a sickly yellow   
instead of orange. Zephyer shouldn't have been banished, because she had  
taken all the color and zest of the island with her. Knuckles wasn't   
certain how he knew this; it simply weighed on his mind as he looked at   
the dim jewels.

"Well," he said to them, "it's your own stupid fault for kicking her along with the others."

He crossed the ring of Super Emeralds and went to the Master Emerald in the center. He noted with grim amusement that he had forgotten to clean up the spot where he had fallen after Nack shot him. Dried blood was caked on the marble pedestal and dais. Well, too bad, he wasn't bothering with that now. He laid a hand on the Master Emerald, which deepened in color as he touched it, and said, "Master Emerald, show me Zephyer."

The hues, highlights and shadows within the emerald shifted and rearranged themselves to form a tiny, bright hologram. Zephyer was curled up on the ground, asleep. Knuckles leaned close, his nose touching the emerald's side. She looked okay, a bit dusty, he thought. He watched her breathe, his heart aching with longing. He could watch her for hours ... days ... three days ... He might see her die. The thought knifed through him, leaving an emotional cut bleeding sorrow and horror. No, no, he and Sally would have the group rescued by then.

He limped around the Master, looking at the image from all sides. Tails and Sonic were just visible on the edge of the hologram, also sleeping. Tails had the third thrall sphere beside his head. Knuckles gazed at it for a long while, wondering if he could target that sphere and use it to bring them home. It was possible, but it would only teleport whoever was touching it at the time, and he wanted to rescue them all. If only he could communicate with them!

He returned to watching Zephyer, a million unlikely plans spinning through his head. He was still there an hour later when Sally used the teleporter and entered Hidden Palace.

She halted on the threshold, gazing in wonder at the majesty and beauty of the gems and marble floors. She had never visited this sacred place before. Knuckles was standing beside the Master Emerald, one hand resting on its top, staring into it. "Well?" he said without turning.

Sally was reluctant to move closer, especially after what had happened to the others. She stood in the archway and said, "I talked to the district governor's office. They're in the Sukatia district, and the representative I talked to said they'll send out search planes in the morning."

"Yeah, it's night there," Knuckles muttered. "It's, what, a sixteen-hour time difference?"

"Yes," said Sally. "Um ... everything that can be done is being done, so you should really rest."

Knuckles turned his head and looked at her, his eyes hard and dangerous.

"Or not," said Sally. "I'm ... going back to the surface." She retreated and teleported out, leaving the surly Guardian alone with his emeralds.

* * *

Shadow  
uncurled and lifted his head. Had he been asleep back in this corner   
behind the shrubs? He hadn't realized he was asleep until he awoke. He   
stretched his stiff limbs, careful not to let his metal arm and leg   
clank against the ground. He didn't want to rouse the occupants of the   
house across the courtyard. They might not be entirely friendly to a   
dirty black hedgehog with half his body made of metal.

He stood up and activated his low-frequency scanner. His other scanner had a wider range, but it operated off his network hardware, and would allow Robo Knux to track him. The low-frequency scanner covered a mile around him, and Robo Knux was not within range. There were plenty of buildings, vehicles and trees, though. And here and there a person moved about on late-night business.

Shadow analyzed his mission objectives. Priority one: find a settlement. Check.

Priority two: survive. Sort of check. He had escaped from his enemy for the moment, but his run had left him parched with thirst, and he was hungry. Once he had taken care of that, third priority was to get help for his Master and the others, and take them food before dawn.

He climbed through the courtyard window and went exploring, watching his scanner and keeping to the darkest shadows. The buildings here were strange to him, for some were built in tiers, and others had multiple roofs, one above the other. Some were built of great blocks of stone, and to his astonishment a pyramid reared up in the city's center.

Palm trees and jungle growth was everywhere, so they must have water. Shadow looked for it, listening and sniffing, and located a large yard being watered by sprinklers. He helped himself to one, letting the jet of water spray into his mouth until he had had enough to drink. Now he needed some food to carry back into the waste with him. Perhaps local law enforcement could help him ... as long as it wasn't GUN. His mouth twisted in an ironic smile. He didn't care much for law enforcement people, but he needed help from somewhere.

Shadow swiped a tropical fruit from a tree in someone's yard, ripped it open with his metal claws and ate its juicy flesh. He didn't care for the rich exotic flavor, but he was hungry and had no other way of acquiring food.

When the aching hole in his middle had been satisfied, Shadow went looking for a police station of some sort. He located one after a brief search; a thick-walled adobe building with a flat roof. To his amusement, there were three bats in green uniforms sitting on the roof in chairs, talking in low voices.

Shadow entered the building and found it was hot and stuffy inside. A sign on the front desk said, 'Upstairs' with an arrow pointing toward a wooden staircase. Shadow mounted them three at a time and emerged on the roof. A shade made of woven reeds was set up to one side, but the bats were sitting apart from it, watching the road from their chairs. One of them nodded to Shadow and beckoned to him, for they had seen him approach.

Shadow walked up, and one of the bats addressed him in a foreign language.

"I don't understand you," said Shadow.

"Ah, a westerner!" said the bat in perfect New Mobian. "Yes, of course. What seems to be the trouble? We don't see many cyborgs in Tukoto."

"I was in a teleporter accident," whispered Shadow, "along with several of my friends. We're stranded out in the desert, about a hundred miles east of here. I came here looking for help."

The bats spoke among themselves in their own language. They were bigger than Rouge, with black leathery wings and orange fur on their bodies. The one Shadow had addressed had patches of creamy white fur on his cheeks. "Species identification," Mekion told him. "Flying foxes, a type of fruit bat. Indigenous to East Mobius, their main exports are-" Shadow shut up his robot half as the leader bat turned to him.

"We had a call about you earlier. Is your name Shadow?"

He nodded.

The bat extended a wing, which had several fingers sprouting from the top wing joint, and Shadow shook 'hands'. "I'm corporal Kayota. We can't send out the rescue craft until morning. Would you be so kind as to show us where your party is located on a map?"

Shadow agreed and followed Kayota down into the stuffy building to look at maps. He wondered if he should tell them that Metal Sonic was with them, for surely his master's notorious fame was worldwide. Mecha was harmless now, but he didn't think these bats would believe that. But the bats needed an accurate headcount and weight estimate so they could send out the appropriate number of aircraft. It seemed the Brimstone range was so dangerous that they seldom let aircraft fly over it, except at high altitudes.

So Shadow did what the police asked, avoiding telling them Metal Sonic's name, and instead telling them there was a second android they called Mecha. It was a common enough title, and Kayota didn't comment. What did draw comment was when Shadow described Rouge.

Kayota stared at him. "Rouge the bat? She's with you?"

"Yes," said Shadow. "It was a widespread accident." It was the closest he had come to humor all night.

Rouge's name seemed to give the rescue priority. Kayota gave Shadow all the food he could carry, as well as a homing beacon to take back to the stranded group to allow the search planes to find them.

Then Shadow was on the road again, running east into the mountains with a knapsack slung across his back, and keeping a wary scan out for Robo Knux. He had not picked up his enemy's signal since losing him in Tukoto, and it worried him. Robo Knux was cunning and well-versed in combat strategy. It would be just like him to stalk Shadow from outside scan range.

But Shadow picked up nothing on his low-frequency scanner for the two hours it took him to pick his way back through the pathless hills to the oasis. When he guessed he was within thirty miles of it, he reactivated his network hardware for a look around. No sign of Robo Knux. "Master?" said Shadow tentatively.

"Shadow!" came Mecha's distant voice. "You are on the borders of scan range. Continue west."

Feeling as if he had sighted home on a dark night, Shadow broke into a smooth skating run. He noticed that a dim glow was brightening the eastern horizon, much like city lights. But this glow was the approaching sun, coming to scorch them.

With Mecha as a guide, Shadow located the shallow canyon and scrambled down its side. Then he paced to Mecha, unslinging the pack from his back. He laid it at Mecha's feet, dropped to his knees and bowed his head. "I have accomplished my objectives, Master."

Mecha shook his head and waved a hand. "No need for that, Shadow. Get up. You located a settlement?"

"Yes," said Shadow, and recounted his adventures as he opened his knapsack and pulled out a jug of fresh water, and a bottle of energy drink called Scarlet Dog. This he handed to Mecha, who read the label and listened to Shadow's account. Shadow concluded by pulling out the homing beacon, a little plastic cube with a button on the side. "At sunrise I will activate this, and the rescue craft will pick us up."

Mecha took the beacon and examined it, eyes narrowing. "Did you tell the police about Robo Knuckles?"

"No."

Mecha held up the beacon. "This is a simple device readable by any electronic scanner. It will draw Robo Knux to us like an iron filing to a magnet."

Shadow paled. Mecha handed the beacon back to him. "We will have to use it, of course, but only after everyone has been refueled and is on their guard." He held up the energy drink. "Perhaps you should drink some of this, yourself."

"It will work with your systems, won't it?" asked Shadow, unscrewing the lid.

Mecha sighed. "Perhaps better than blood did."

As Shadow 'fed' Mecha, the two chao stirred and opened their eyes. Aleda sat up in Mecha's lap and yawned, and Nox looked around anxiously, saw Shadow and relaxed with a smile. Then he saw the knapsack. "What's that?" asked Nox.

"I retrieved food supplies," whispered Shadow. "See that Aleda is fed. There are several fruits, and you may each have one."

Nox and Aleda pounced on the knapsack, pulled out two round yellow fruits as big as they were, and devoured them as if they were starving to death. Mecha watched Aleda for any sign of collapse, but she looked as if she had recovered from the previous day's episode.

Shadow finished fueling Mecha, looked at the half-empty bottle of energy drink, and took a drink. He made a face and swallowed. "This stuff is like ... like gasoline for organics!"

"Pure caffeine, among other things," said Mecha, rising to his feet and stretching. The fever in his body was already dropping, so the fluid must be slightly less hostile to his nanites. "It is a powerful stimulant. Rouse the others. We must have them ready."

The black hedgehog walked to Sonic, Tails and Zephyer, and prodded them each with a toe. Zephyer opened her eyes and made a sour face. Tails inhaled deeply and stretched, and Sonic leaped to his feet by reflex before his eyes were open. "Huh? What? Oh, hi Shadow."

Shadow jerked his head at his knapsack and the two chao. "Food."

"Food?" Sonic spun around. "Where'd you get food?"

Shadow ignored him and stalked off in search of Rouge and Nack, but he heard Tails say, "Last night Shadow went looking for a town or something, and I helped. Hey Sonic, I can use this sphere! Guess what it lets me do?"

Shadow nearly spun around and throttled the fox, but forced himself to keep walking. They were running out of time, and there was no point in causing a fight.

His scanner located Rouge hanging upside down from a tree branch, wings folded around her body. She was too high to reach, so Shadow tossed a pebble and hit her on the wing. Her eyes opened, and she glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"Get up, we have food," he whispered. He almost added something about their imminent danger, but decided against it. She would find out soon enough.

As she flipped down to the ground, Shadow walked off, scanning for Nack. He located the weasel curled in the rocks at the head of the hotspring. As Shadow circled them, trying to locate the easiest route up to them, he heard an odd buzzing sound and froze. A second later he saw Nack sit up and grope at his vest pocket. He pulled out a tiny communicator and flipped it on. "Eh?"

"Nack, you moron," snarled Robo Knux's voice, and Shadow instinctively ducked behind a boulder. Nack was in contact with Robo Knux? This situation was getting worse and worse!

Robo Knux was still speaking. "I told you not to turn this com off. What were you doing?"

"Sleeping," said Nack, taking off his hat and scratching his head. "I didn't know you got dumped out here, too."

"It seems we all did." Robo Knux's anger was ebbing away to be replaced by oily good humor. "It seems Metal Sonic and his pet Shadow are also stranded out here."

"Yeah." Nack looked around furtively, and Shadow ducked a little lower to avoid being seen. Nack said in a low voice, "That Metal Sonic has tried to kill me three or four times, and Shadow's insane, I know he is. I saw him talking to himself, and he acted like there were two people in his head."

"Technically there are," said Robo Knux, "but that's beside the point. I want to arrange a private encounter with myself and Mecha. A fatal encounter."

"Might be workable," said Nack. "What're you gonna do about the others?"

"What others?"

"Sonic, Tails, Rouge and some echidna chick are here, too."

Robo Knux was silent a moment, and when he spoke again, he sounded delighted. "All of them together! Has much blood been shed?"

"Not nearly enough," said Nack, smiling and baring his fang. "Oh yes, something else you might find interesting. Mecha has a chao of his own."

"What?" Robo Knux was astonished, but his astonishment quickly turned to evil glee. "Oh my, this keeps getting better. So the great Mecha has allowed himself not one, not two, but several weaknesses! I wonder how many of them I can exploit before he dies."

"What about me?" said Nack. "You'll kill all of them and leave me stranded out here?"

"There's a city called Tukoto a hundred miles to the east," said Robo Knux. "I'll fly you there after the fun is over. I need you to make sure Mecha is separated from the others, hopefully with his chao, too."

"Will do," said Nack. "I'll call you again once I figure out how."

Shadow felt sick at his stomach. Robo Knux was coming with death on his mind, and Nack was in league with him. "Mekion," he thought, "what should I do?"

"Don't let him know you overheard him," said Mekion. "Do not inform Mecha of this via the network. If Robo Knux is close enough to utilize a communicator, he is within network range. Speak to Mecha audibly."

Shadow remembered he had come to collect Nack and make sure he was fed. The thought sickened him-the traitor deserved to starve-but Shadow couldn't let on that he suspected anything.

The black hedgehog tiptoed a short distance away, then walked to the rocks as if he was just arriving. Nack looked at him sharply and stuffed his com back in his pocket. "Nack," whispered Shadow, "food. I was sent to notify you." He turned and walked off.

Nack called, "Food? What? Where'd that come from?"

Shadow ignored him. It galled him to think that this disgusting traitor was going to eat the food that Shadow had carried a hundred miles, but it couldn't be helped. Not now, anyway.

When he reached the others again, they were seated in a group on the rocky ground, eating the fruits and rations the police had given him, and talking cheerfully. Mecha had already informed them about being rescued, and morale was high. "Hey Shadow," Sonic called, "kudos for braving the desert! Good thing you can see in the dark, huh?"

Shadow's thoughts were focused completely on warning Mecha. He nodded at Sonic, stepped to Mecha and whispered, "I must speak with you a moment. He is already coming."

Mecha gave Shadow a startled look, and the two walked a short distance away from the others, into the cover of the scrubby trees. There Shadow recounted everything he had heard in a rapid-fire whisper, his robot fingers clenching and relaxing over and over.

Mecha turned his head and looked toward the eastern horizon, where an orange glow heralded the rising sun. "Using the beacon can do no harm now," he muttered. "Although this is not entirely unexpected. He is here because he was on the Floating Island during the experiment. I have long suspected he was in league with Rouge and Nack." He turned to Shadow, and his red eyes held a hint of sadness. "I know it is a violation of your first law, but you must not try to defend me when he arrives."

"But ... but Mecha...!"

"You are to take Aleda and run," Mecha continued, holding Shadow's gaze. "You and she are my weaknesses, and he knows that destroying you before my eyes will harm me worse than if he put his claws through my heart."

Shadow bowed his head, trying to think of a loophole that would allow him to remain with his Master. Robo Knux's attack was the thing they had both feared for so long, and now it was going to happen. Shadow lifted his head. "Let's ask Sonic for help. He's strong and fast, and he's not your weakness."

"No." Mecha's eyes glittered in hatred. "I will die before I ask him for help." He whirled and strode back to the others, and Shadow gazed after him. Mecha was too proud to appeal to Sonic, but Shadow had no such reservations. Although he disliked Sonic, Shadow was willing to do anything to save Mecha.

Mecha took the beacon out of the knapsack and activated it, placing it on a rock. "There," he announced. "This will guide our rescuers directly to us." His eyes shifted to Shadow-they could both hear the beacon as a pulsing siren through their network. So could Robo Knux.

Shadow walked through the group and tapped Sonic on the head as he passed. Sonic looked at him questioningly, and Shadow crooked a finger at him and walked on. A moment later Sonic rose and followed him. Shadow led him to the far side of a rock outcropping, out of Mecha's range of vision.

"Sup, Shads?" Sonic asked.

Shadow faced him. "We are in grave danger." And he again recounted Nack's conversation with Robo Knux.

Sonic stared at him, eyes beginning to smoulder. "So he's gonna let RK slaughter us?" he said as Shadow finished. "I knew I didn't like him! Thanks for telling me. I'm not afraid of RK. Remember the last time he showed up, and I ripped his arms off?" Sonic looked blissful at the memory.

Shadow nodded. "Since I am not allowed to protect Mecha, you must do it for me. Can you do that? Even if he tries to drive you away?"

"Mecha, fight me?" said Sonic with a hollow laugh. "Not gonna happen. But I'll look out for him. Heck, I've been trying to get on his good side this whole time."

"Yes," said Shadow, looking at Sonic's hand. He had seen the cut before Sonic put on his gloves, and it was swollen and red. By contrast, Shadow's cut had nearly healed. "Thank you," said Shadow, dropping his eyes. He hated having to ask Sonic for help like this, but he cared more about Mecha than their own petty rivalry.

He turned and walked back to the others, checking his scanner for Robo Knux. No sign of him yet.

* * *

The  
rising sun on East Mobius meant night had fallen on West Mobius and the  
Floating Island. Knuckles was still in Hidden Palace, a communicator   
lying beside him on the floor. He had spent the day beside the Master   
Emerald, watching Zephyer and the others, hoping to see them rescued.   
Sally gave him updates via the com every few hours, but nothing much had  
happened over there during the night. Knuckles allowed himself the   
luxury of a few naps, because once morning came over there, it would be   
night here.

He was watching when Shadow walked onto the image and awoke Zephyer, Sonic and Tails. He watched as Zephyer got up and moved around, bringing other people into focus. It looked like they were eating breakfast. The authorities in Tukoto had said Shadow had appeared, retrieved supplies and went back, and Knuckles saw it unfolding before his eyes. From what he could see, the whole group was still together.

When Knuckles wasn't observing Zephyer, he was re-reading the inscription from the inside of the Super Emerald's pedestal. He had discovered purely by chance that if he held the panel up to the light of a thrall sphere, additional writing appeared, as if written with invisible ink over the top of the engraving.

The secret writing told how to use a thrall sphere properly, and he wished he had read it before they charged ahead with their portal scheme. Spheres operated by sound frequencies. They resonated at certain notes like a tuning fork, but because of their chaos power they could manipulate the global chaos field and the Chaos Emeralds in unusual ways. He, in turn, could command the spheres with the Master Emerald.

A few hours ago, Knuckles had conducted an experiment to test one of the commands. He said, "Master Emerald, 'call' thrall spheres." The volume of the ensuing two notes knocked him down and shattered several of the blue crystals on the ceiling. When the echoes of the aural explosion had died away, Knuckles found that both spheres had fallen from their places and rolled to the foot of the Master Emerald's dais.

Knuckles had decided that when the group was back in civilization, he would call Zephyer and see if he could summon them all home with the thrall sphere. All he could do for now was watch.

* * *

The  
sun had climbed to 8 AM, and the volcanic desert was already baking as   
the temperatures soared. The Mobians had taken shelter under the trees,   
watching the sky hopefully for rescue aircraft. Shadow and Mecha kept a   
scan open for a flying creature of another kind, but there was no sign   
of him.

Sonic watched Nack and Rouge out of the corner of his eye, hating Nack with everything he had. That thief-that criminal-was looking for a way to let Robo Knux kill Mecha and Aleda. After everything Mecha had done to help them! If not for Mecha, they wouldn't be waiting for rescue, and Nack would have died out here with the rest of them ... and Nack was willing to hand Mecha over to be murdered! The more Sonic thought about it, the hotter his blood boiled.

Beside him, Tails looked up from playing with the thrall sphere. "Sonic," he said, "Mecha says the planes are in sight. Hey, are you okay?"

Sonic's expression was black. "I'm fine," he growled. After a second he brightened. "The planes are in sight? Where?" He jumped up and ran out into the sun, peering into the west.

"Actually," he heard Mecha tell the others, "they are helicopters, which means they can land here." Now Sonic could hear the distant thumping of three helicopters, which appeared as specks above the hilltops. "All right, we're outta here!" he yelled.

The helicopters circled overhead as the pilots looked for level places to land, then one by one they descended to touch down, the wind from their rotors kicking up a cloud of dust. They were boxy-looking Mobian craft with wings and engines as well as rotors, which allowed them to fly for long distances and land anywhere.

"Wow!" Tails exclaimed, hurrying out to Sonic and watching them land. "Those are Hummingbird-class D-197's! And we get to ride in them!" He was delighted.

As the rotors stopped spinning overhead, two medics jumped out of the lead helicopter and strode toward them. They were orange-furred bats with large round ears, wearing uniforms and goggles. "Any of your party injured?" one of them called to Sonic as they approached.

"Nope," Sonic called back. "We're in good shape." He beckoned to his companions, who were hurrying out of the trees, toward their rescuers.

Three more bats appeared, opening sliding side doors on the aircraft's sides. The bats divided the group by weight-Zephyer, Rouge and Shadow were in one craft, Nack, Tails and Mecha were in the second, and Sonic would take the two chao in the third.

As soon as Zephyer, Rouge and Shadow had boarded, the medics swung into the cockpit and the first helicopter lifted off, heading back toward town. Mecha gazed after it as he climbed into his own chopper-Shadow was clear. He helped Tails climb in with the thrall sphere, and glared at Nack as the weasel sat down and strapped himself in. Nack smirked at him.

Mecha turned to look out the door, watching Sonic carry the two chao, black and blue, toward the last helicopter. How had it turned out that Sonic was handling the chao? They should have gone with Shadow! Mecha watched Sonic closely, making sure he didn't hurt Aleda. Nox was talking, it looked like, and Sonic was nodding and telling him about the helicopters. There was too much noise for Mecha to hear what they were saying, but it looked as if Sonic was being gentle. He knew how to handle chao, at least. Mecha half-expected Sonic to pitch Aleda aside and run, just to spite him.

Suddenly, though the network, Mecha heard Shadow scream, "Master!" At the same time Mecha detected Robo Knux flying into the canyon at two hundred miles an hour, headed straight for the helicopter Sonic was boarding.

Robo Knux knew Sonic had the chao! The fiend! Mecha's efficient brain calculated trajectories at the speed of thought, and he knew that he could not leave his helicopter, which was lifting off the ground, with enough speed to either intercept Robo Knux or remove Aleda from his path. Sonic was fast enough to escape, but his back was to the robot, and he couldn't hear his engines over the helicopter noise.

Mecha knew he was capable of of shouting loudly enough to attract Sonic's attention-he recalled his self-testing on the Annihilator-but that meant he had to call the hedgehog's name. Mecha never spoke Sonic's name if he could help it, for to him, the name was as repulsive as the filthiest swearword. But if he did nothing, Robo Knux would hit the hedgehog from behind and kill him instantly, and both Nox and Aleda would die, too.

Mecha couldn't allow Aleda to die. His affection for her was a weakness, he saw that clearly. It forced him to do and say things he had never imagined he would do or say. Such as warning his worst enemy of impending doom. The hatred rose in him, battling with his feelings for his chao. What was more important, after all? His hatred of Sonic or his love for his chao? What would cause him the most pain; speaking the hedgehog's name, or seeing Aleda impaled on Robo Knux's diamond-tipped claws?

Time was running out. Mecha saw everything in sharp focus-Robo Knux flying with arms extended, jets roaring, a plume of dust behind him-Sonic stepping up into the waiting helicopter with the chao in his arms, oblivious-

Mecha's claws dug into the doorframe hard enough to bend the metal. He filled his lungs and cried, "Look out, Sonic!" The phrase ripped out of him, repulsive and vile, nearly choking him, and he followed it with a roar of disgust and fury at himself.

Sonic's head jerked up, then he looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second-then he bolted sideways, ducking into a spin and holding the chao against his body to shield them. Robo Knux flashed past him, lowering his head to protect his face. He punched through one wall of the helicopter and out the other, followed by a spurt of fire. Then the helicopter exploded in a ball of flame, debris flying like shrapnel and striking the other helicopter.

Mecha ducked back inside the doorway with a curse as shards of metal pelted the compartment. Tails and Nack ducked and shielded their faces as their craft spun sideways, trying to avoid flying debris and put as much distance between them and attack as possible.

There was Sonic, running toward them! Mecha checked his radar and saw Robo Knux was circling back, stalking Sonic at the speed of a drag racer. But Sonic was faster, Sonic had always been faster, that was why Mecha hated him so much-

The pilot saw Sonic and the helicopter dropped lower, swinging broadside. Sonic's eyes were bright with fear and excitement, and Mecha could see Sonic's strides shortening, gathering himself for a leap up into the helicopter. Mecha knew it would be easy-so easy-to strike Sonic in midair hard enough to knock him down, leave him behind for Robo Knux to maul. But Robo Knux didn't want Sonic, he wanted those chao. He wanted Mecha. For the moment Sonic was not the enemy, and Mecha knew that allowing his hate to dictate his actions would result in Aleda's death and perhaps his own.

Sonic jumped for the helicopter, freeing one arm to reach for the edge of the compartment. Mecha caught him by the wrist, and for an instant thought of another time when he had caught Sonic by the wrist. Almost their first encounter-and Mecha had mangled Sonic's arm.

Sonic looked up at him, and for an instant Mecha thought Sonic was thinking of the same memory. Then Mecha realized that he had grabbed Sonic by his injured hand, and the look in Sonic's eyes was pain. Sonic was only in pain because he had sacrificed his health to keep Mecha alive. Guilt and rage tore through Mecha, as well as sudden sorrow for hating Sonic so much.

He rose and lifted Sonic into the helicopter, surprised at how light the hedgehog seemed. Sonic landed on his feet and dove for the seats along the far wall. He banged on the door of the cockpit and yelled to the pilots, "Fly! Fly! Get us out of here!" He set the breathless chao in a seat and sat beside them, clinging to the handgrips on either side. Then he looked at Mecha, who was still standing beside the door and staring at Sonic with a dazed expression.

"Thanks," Sonic mouthed.

Mecha ducked his head in what might have been a nod and turned to pull the sliding door shut.

Nack the weasel rose from his seat and walked up behind Mecha, looking as if he was going to help with the door. Suddenly he spun and dealt Mecha a judo-kick in the back that should have sent him flying out of the helicopter. But Mecha was holding onto the door, and as he fell he twisted in midair and grabbed the door handle with both hands. The force of his fall put all his weight on the door, which slid shut on its track. All of its weight slammed on Mecha's hands.

Mecha instantly regretted being semi-organic. Pain flashed through his whole body, centered in his arms, and his synthetic muscles flexed and forced his fingers to open. He released the handle and fell thirty feet to a rocky hillside. He bounced, rolled, skidded and finally came to rest at the bottom of a hill, where the shock of injury overcame him and he lost consciousness.

* * *

As Mecha let go of the   
door and vanished, the helicopter pitched and the door rolled open   
again. Nack looked out, laughing and watching Mecha fall, and did not   
see Sonic until Sonic grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the   
wall. Nack's shifty yellow eyes met Sonic's furious green ones, and Nack  
realized Sonic was strong enough to throttle him. Nack struggled, but   
Sonic bellowed, "Stop!" and slammed Nack into the metal wall.

"Touchy touchy," said Nack, sneering in Sonic's face.

Sonic slammed him into the wall hard enough to make Nack see stars. "You are a sick, twisted, disgusting weasel," Sonic hissed. "I should throw you out the way you did him."

"What's stopping you?" said Nack, struggling to keep his sneer in place.

Sonic never got the chance to answer, for two pairs of claws suddenly punched through the wall a foot from them, and a heavy thud made the whole helicopter shake. Sonic dropped Nack and backed away, staring, as one pair of claws began to tear downward, paring the side of the aircraft open like a can opener.

Behind Sonic, Nack laughed. "My friends are more powerful than your friends, spiky. Your friend skydives without a parachute, and mine takes apart stupid hedgehogs one piece at a time."

"Oh shut up!" Tails yelled, hurling his thrall sphere at Nack. It hit the weasel in the head and silenced him for several hours.

"Good shot, little bro," said Sonic without taking his eyes from those tearing claws. "Don't let him near the chao."

Tails jumped out of his seat, retrieved the thrall sphere and dove back to where Nox and Aleda were sitting, watching all this with round eyes.

Robo Knux's claws tore outward, ripping a chunk out of the helicopter's side, and he swung inside, dusty, smoke-stained and scratched, and his claws were gleaming and polished from so much use. His green eyes swept the compartment. "You have two doors now," he remarked. "Hello, morons. I want Mecha's chao before I go back to savage him. Sound reasonable?"

"I'll rip your head off first," said Sonic, balancing in the swaying compartment.

Robo Knux gave him a scornful glance. "There's no room for a fight in here, Sonic. You'll kill Tails and Nack before you hit me." He strode forward, grabbed Tails by the fur on top of his head and threw him aside, and snatched up Aleda in one thick-fingered hand.

Tails's eyes were watering from the pain of having his fur yanked, but he ran his hands over his sphere, finding Robo Knux's frequency. Then he chanted in tune with the sphere, "I can talk to you from here, Robo Knux. I can fry your brain."

Robo Knux laughed. "Nice trick, fox-boy! I don't have a brain, more's the pity. At least, not like Mecha's. Fry me and you fry everyone on this network." He turned to see Sonic crouching in preparation for a spindash, and Robo Knux held up Aleda. "Go ahead, kill her. I'm sure Mecha would be real pleased about that."

Sonic hesitated.

Robo Knux laughed again. "You're so predictable, Sonic! Too kind to shoot the hostage! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment I really can't miss." He whirled and leaped out the side door, his jets igniting with a coughing roar and filling the compartment with exhaust.

Sonic and Tails raced to the door and looked out. Robo Knux was flying out over the hills, searching for Mecha. "What do we do?" asked Tails.

"Call Shadow," said Sonic. "After that, see if you can cook RK with your sphere."


	13. Chapter 13

Mecha opened his eyes and found he was lying on his back, staring up at a cloudless blue sky. His body ached as if he had been beaten with a club, and he sat up, rubbing his head. Both his arms had a dent across them just above the wrist where the door had slammed, and his biometal was already repairing the crushed fibers. It sure hurt, though.

He climbed to his feet, feeling a sick dizziness rise in his head from shock, injury, or the energy drink-maybe all three. The helicopter was gone, and he was alone out here in this volcanic wasteland. If he was lucky.

He checked his scanner and saw with horror that both Shadow and Robo Knux were converging on him. "Shadow," he said over the network, "I told you to remain with the others!"

"I apologize, Master," replied Shadow, "but no you didn't. I have my instructions and will carry them out."

As Mecha frantically tried to remember what he had told Shadow, Robo Knux said, "Maybe I should get myself a slave, Mecha. He's certainly devoted, and I'd rather like having a minion to do my bidding."

Mecha ran up the hill to the top and scanned the horizon. Shadow was on foot, but Robo Knux was flying and approaching faster. Mecha could see the sun glinting on his back and arms.

"Oh yes," added Robo Knux, his voice casual and triumphant, "I have your precious little chao. Aleda, I believe her name is. She's alive. For the time being."

Cold, sick despair hit Mecha. Robo Knux had Aleda. It was all over, then. She was as good as dead, and Mecha would have the privilege of watching her die, if he knew Robo Knux. He stood there and waited, watching his enemy sweep toward him.

* * *

Far away on the Floating Island, Knuckles's communicator clicked. He picked it up and opened the channel. "Yeah?"

"Knuckles," said Sally's voice, "there's some sort of problem out there. I think the rescue team is being attacked."

"Yeah," said Knuckles, watching the image of Zephyer inside the Master Emerald. "Shadow just jumped out of the helicopter, and Zeff is freaking out."

"I'm on the line with their main office. I'll keep you posted."

Knuckles watched Zephyer and tried to guess what was happening beyond the hologram. He had tried to make the Master view the others, but it would only pick up Zephyer. Maybe he should start boosting the power of the thrall spheres ...

* * *

Robo Knux landed on  
the rocky hilltop near Mecha with a whoosh of hot air. He held up one   
fist, and Mecha saw Aleda's frightened little face peering through Robo   
Knux's claws. As soon as she saw Mecha, she smiled-if he was here, then   
nothing would happen to her now.

The trust in her eyes hurt Mecha even worse than having his hands slammed in a door. He looked at Robo Knux. "Is there any way I can persuade you not to kill her?"

"Hmm." Robo Knux stroked his chin and pretended to think. "Sure. I want all of your biomechanic data, the passcodes to the Egg Tower, the names and addresses of all your allies, and Mekion's allegiance."

"Even if I could give you all that, you would still kill the chao," said Mecha. His mind was working through every option and scenario, and Aleda died in all of them.

Robo Knux nodded. "Chao are a dime a dozen. You want another one, you can get one. But this one is sick and puny, and she has red eyes. You know I can't stand females with red eyes. Green is better."

"Since when do you have the capacity to care about anyone, much less a female?" snapped Mecha, feeling anger rise through his fear. Good-he would rather be angry.

"My capacity is bigger than you imagine," snarled Robo Knux. "Just because I don't have a bio-nano-brain doesn't mean that I lack emotion chips or retro-logic processors."

"Of course not," said Mecha. "They are all you use to operate." Thin ice, he thought.

Robo Knux waved Aleda back and forth. "Do you want me to beat her head in or what?"

"You are the one who mentioned your operating hardware," said Mecha. He had angered Robo Knux. When Robo Knux became angry, he made mistakes, and it seemed Mecha had found a weak spot. Robo Knux was jealous of him.

Mecha went on, "You would kill any creature if it happened to belong to me, simply because no creature in its right mind would ever care for you."

"That's not true!" Robo Knux bellowed. "Why should it matter to me if a vile organic lifeform cared if I existed? That's weakness, and I have no weaknesses! Now, you, on the other hand ..."

Mecha finished for him, "I have allowed myself the weaknesses you desire, and have found they are not so weak as I thought. Therefore you despise me."

Robo Knux twitched, turning one way, then the other, his mental discomfort so great that he could not keep still.

"Why don't we strike a bargain?" said Mecha, watching his enemy warily. "I could upgrade your systems the way I did my own in exchange for the chao."

Unfortunately, Robo Knux was beyond reason. "This is what I think of you and your slimy words, Mecha!" He brought his steel fist down on Aleda's soft head. Then he threw her crumpled body at Mecha, who caught her in his hands. He stared down at her in numb disbelief. Her head had been dented in, and her crimson eyes were lifeless. It appeared that she had died instantly.

Shock, grief, horror and fury overwhelmed him. Although Mecha had often threatened to kill Aleda, he had never imagined her dead. And now, seeing her lying limply in his hands, the once-happy face now blank and empty, ripped his soul straight down the middle. Robo Knux would die for this.

Before Mecha could move a step, Shadow flashed up the hill behind Robo Knux, silent as a ghost on his hoverskates, and struck Robo Knux in a spin. The red robot went flying, missing Mecha by an inch, and went tumbling down the hill. Shadow turned to Mecha and said, "Give her to me, and I'll take her away. And you should run, too."

"No," said Mecha, stroking Aleda's face with one finger. "He has murdered Aleda, and I will deconstruct him myself." He gently handed Shadow the tiny blue body, then plunged down the hill, allowing his killer instinct to take over. Aleda was dead. There was hell to pay.

* * *

Tails lifted his head, tears filling his eyes. "Sonic, he killed her."

"What?" Sonic spun around from where he was looking out the helicopter's door, the wind fanning his spines.

Tails's hands were positioned on the thrall sphere, tuned to the frequency of the mecha-bots. He had heard almost every word they said. That little blue chao had died! He thought of his own chao dying that way, and it moved him to tears.

"Tails, we gotta do something!" said Sonic, dancing from foot to foot in impatience. The helicopter was carrying him further and further from the battle, and Sonic knew that even if he bailed out and ran back, his chances of locating the androids in the crests and folds of this broken land were small.

"What can I do?" Tails wailed. "I can only talk to them! This sphere isn't meant for war like the Chaos Emeralds are!"

"There's got to be something that sphere can do," said Sonic. "Can't you turn it up really loud or something?"

"I don't know." Tails looked at the orange globe in his lap, and blinked back his tears. The sphere was changing from orange to a deep blood red. "Sonic!" he whispered.

Sonic saw it darken, and said, "Hey, that's what it did when Knux was funneling power through it! See if you can do something different now!"

* * *

In   
distant Hidden Palace, Knuckles was using another command to boost the   
power inside the thrall spheres. The two in the cavern with him had   
turned red, and their hum had pitched up to a shrill ringing note that   
was making him see stars. He covered his ears and decided to endure it   
for five minutes before shutting it off.

If his teeth didn't shatter before then.

* * *

In  
the helicopter, Tails turned his head and listened for battling robots   
through the ringing of the sphere. Then he heard the sphere's note in   
his head and began to sing, echoing the note, forcing his chaos field   
into that note to make it louder, more powerful, more stunning.

He ran out of breath and fell silent, but the note went on and on, resonating with the spheres in Hidden Palace, feeding off their power, focused by Tails into a keening vibration like a laser made of sound.

* * *

Mecha  
and Robo Knux stopped fighting, stumbled away from each other and held   
their heads in agony. Shadow, too, had to stop and hold his ears. The   
sphere's note reverberated through their network, maxing out their   
volume levels and becoming a hideous roar of sound.

Shadow had the presence of mind to shut off his network hardware, and was treated to sudden, wonderful silence. But Mecha and Robo Knux did not think to do this, and writhed in agony as the noise's volume increased, overloading the network with information, overheating their chips until at last the silicon melted.

The noise stopped. Mecha straightened up, blinking tears of pain from his eyes. Robo Knux was on his hands and knees, holding his head. Somewhere, beyond their hearing, that same note went on and on, until the local chaos field resonated with it. Mecha and Shadow could feel that note hammering at their bodies like silent thunder.

* * *

Sonic held his ears. "Tails, dang! I didn't mean turn it up that loud!"

Tails was holding his ears, too, but the sphere's music was inside of his head, even without touching the sphere. The helicopter was quivering with it. Tails noticed with a corner of his mind that this sort of chaos resonance seemed to affect machines the most.

He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, trying to block out the sound. Were the robots hearing this, too? He couldn't pick them up anymore-not that it mattered, because in another minute he'd be deaf-

* * *

Knuckles  
winced. The spheres were so loud now that the floor trembled underfoot,  
and the crystals in the ceiling were cracking and plinking to the   
floor. The Master Emerald was picking up the note now, beginning to   
vibrate and hum in harmony with the two spheres. No ... there were three  
sphere notes, creating a chord beautiful in its harmony, but deadly in   
its volume. Knuckles knew he would black out if this kept up. He slapped  
a hand on the Master Emerald and yelled, "Master Emerald, call the   
thrall spheres!"

* * *

Time and space meant   
little to the field of chaos that surrounded Mobius like a bubble. If   
two parts of the field were sharing a reaction, it curved   
four-dimensional space to join the reactions and neutralize the power.

The Master Emerald held a large amount of influence over the balance of the global field, and three-dimensional space meant little to three thrall spheres that were resonating through the field itself.

As the spheres in Hidden Palace released their power, the sphere in Tails's lap did the same. Everyone Tails had touched with his field's resonance were enfolded in the spacial curve, and it seemed to Sonic as if the world had slowed to a crawl. His heartbeat slowed, his lungs struggled to inhale air that felt as thick as molasses-

Darkness clamped down, and the floor vanished from under Sonic's feet. He fell with a yelp and struck the ground hard, jarring his feet and bruising his knees. He lay in the pitch blackness, straining to see and figure out where he was. It was silent.

Nearby, someone stirred and groaned.

"Tails?" said Sonic, sitting up cautiously.

"Sonic?" said another voice. "Aw heck..."

A green light appeared in midair and slowly brightened, like an igniting floodlight. Sonic saw with astonishment that it was the Master Emerald, surrounded by Super Emeralds, each one dead and black. As he looked, each one slowly relit and added their glow to illuminate the cave.

Knuckles was sitting on the dais, just taking his hands off his ears and blinking in a daze. Tails still lay on the floor, eyes open and staring at nothing, the sphere clutched to his chest. The sphere had finally hypnotized him.

"Well!" said another voice. "That was the strangest thing that's happened to me all day." Sonic and Knuckles turned to see Robo Knux rising to his feet, green eyes sweeping the gems and pedestals.

"What're you doing here?" Knuckles asked, still addled by the bizarre pulse of sound energy.

"I'm not sure," said Robo Knux. "I don't mind, though. I can kill them just as easily here." He sprang for the far end of the cavern, pounced and held up Shadow and Mecha by their throats in either hand. Mecha's eyes were closed and he hung limp, but Shadow was struggling to open his eyes. He groped feebly at Robo Knux's claws around his neck, and Robo Knux laughed. "Seems that some of that chaos shielding I installed worked for once! Pity Shadow and Mecha don't have any."

Sonic jumped to his feet, staggered and dropped to his knees again. His head was still spinning after that weird teleport. He would be all right in a few minutes, but Robo Knux did not intend to wait that long.

"Knux, stop him!" Sonic hissed.

Knuckles gestured furiously to his bandaged leg and shook his head. Robo Knux could rip him apart with one hand tied behind his back.

Robo Knux looked from Shadow to Mecha and back, deciding who to shred first. Mecha was still unconscious and would give no sport at all, so Robo Knux dropped him and focused his attention on Shadow. "You know, Mekion," he said, holding the black hedgehog off the floor, "even though you're a grovelling slave, you do come in handy. What say you change your allegiance and serve me as your Master?"

Shadow's eyes blazed. "Never," he gasped. He braced his feet on Robo Knux's torso, then kicked off and twisted, trying to break free. Robo Knux's grip slipped and Shadow flipped to the floor. Then he dashed over to place himself between Mecha and Robo Knux, half-crouched and ready for anything.

"Okay," said Robo Knux, looking him up and down. "You've never really fought with me, have you?"

In the next forty seconds a lightning-quick battle ensued that bewildered Knuckles, and even Sonic had trouble following. Shadow exerted all of his speed and strength to smash his opponent, but Robo Knux blocked and countered nearly as fast as Shadow did. They fought with fists, flying kicks, spindashes and flips that might have been beautiful had it not been a fight to the death.

Shadow had a lithe grace and balance that allowed him to use many martial-arts moves that Sonic had never dreamed of trying. But Robo Knux had picked up some upgrades along his sordid lifetime, and although he was not as graceful as Shadow, he was nearly as fast. It seemed as if neither of them could survive a battle so swift and violent; one of them would misstep and the other would score a fatal hit. At their speeds, only one hit was needed.

Suddenly Shadow was down, and Sonic couldn't tell why. One of Robo Knux's lightning-quick jabs had struck home, and Shadow curled up on his side and lay still.

Sonic jumped up and ran at Robo Knux, not knowing what he planned to do, but he had to do something. Robo Knux saw him coming, and with one of those same super-quick motions he grabbed Shadow by the arm and flung him into Sonic. The two hedgehogs collided and rolled over and over before coming to a halt.

Sonic pushed Shadow off him and realized his own fur was wet with something hot and sticky. He looked down and saw two holes in Shadow's torso, just below the ribcage. Shadow's eyes opened and he looked at Sonic. "Ten minutes," he whispered. "You agreed to protect Mecha for me. Do it for ten minutes."

Sonic struggled to his feet and saw Robo Knux was standing over Mecha, kicking him. "Get up, swine. Get up and fight!"

Mecha's eyes opened, and he said, "Don't you have the decency to allow me to rise on my own?"

"If I had any decency, I wouldn't be here," sneered Robo Knux. "I've dispatched your chao and your slave, and now it's your turn."

"Leave him alone, jerk!" snarled Sonic.

Robo Knux glanced over his shoulder. "Stay out of this, moron. I'm not interested in killing you right now."

This small distraction gave Mecha enough time to climb to his feet, where he stood, weaving a little. He had the same desperate, hopeless expression he had worn after Sonic had beaten him on the Egg Fleet, and Sonic wanted to help him. "Mecha!" he called. "Remember how you fought me last time? Do that again!"

"I do not understand," droned Mecha.

How could he understand Sonic, anyway? Sonic was referring to Mecha's defeat. Was Sonic advising him to surrender? You couldn't surrender to Robo Knux-he would laugh and rip you into pieces. At least Sonic had accepted Mecha's surrender graciously, and didn't take Mecha's life then and there. Life? He had no life. He wasn't alive. Neither was his chao.

His eyes turned to the corner, where Shadow had dropped Aleda's body when Robo Knux had grabbed him. Nox was beside her, crouched and protective. Aleda was damaged beyond repair, as Mecha soon would be. He had tried fighting, and he couldn't win. Robo Knux was stronger. Sonic was faster. Mecha was only second-rate, second-best. He was doomed from the first. There was nothing to fight for anymore. His soul was still torn in two from watching Aleda die. With her gone, there was nothing left for him ... nothing ...

Robo Knux hit him in the face, his claws slicing across Mecha's muzzle. Mecha spun and fell to all fours, feeling his nano-blood trickle down his face. Defeat was easier the second time. Maybe it was something you grew accustomed to-you just gave up until the punishment was over. Of course, giving up in this case meant certain death, but maybe that was better than repeated defeat.

Robo Knux kicked him in the stomach. "Fight me, Mecha! What's wrong with you?"

Mecha fell flat and lay still, just wanting it to end quickly. Robo Knux stood over him, shaking his head in disbelief. "I killed your chao and your slave-you should be trying to rip me apart! What are you? Stupid? Get up!"

Mecha didn't respond or move.

Sonic couldn't stand to see Mecha suffer this again and he charged at Robo Knux, curling into a spiny ball. Robo Knux whirled and shielded himself with crossed arms, and Sonic bounced off. As Sonic spun to his feet, Robo Knux charged him with a roar, claws extended. Sonic sidestepped at ninety miles an hour, and Robo Knux swept by like a crazed whirlwind.

"Mecha!" Sonic yelled as Robo Knux skidded to a halt and whirled to face him, "you gotta get up! You didn't change your biometal, did you? Use it, use it!" He spun at Robo Knux, who again blocked the blow.

Mecha lifted his head. Use his biometal? Sonic had to be kidding. That didn't work in combat situations. He watched as Robo Knux collided with Sonic and slammed him into the rock wall. "I don't want to fight you, you useless hedgehog!" Robo Knux snarled, throwing Sonic at the marble floor with all his strength. Sonic hit the floor with a hollow thud and lay motionless, stunned or unconscious.

Robo Knux turned to Mecha. "What do I have to do to make you fight me?"

"I don't want to fight you," said Mecha quietly.

Robo Knux stared at him in shocked silence. Finally he spluttered, "Why? Are you afraid?"

"No," said Mecha. "It is a waste of time."

Robo Knux took that as a personal insult. "A waste of time? Oh yes, Mecha Overlord, we all know how important your time is! You'd rather lay on the floor than stick up for your chao and slave. Well, you know what you are? You're a coward! You know what I do to cowards? I dissect them to see the color of their blood. Usually it's yellow."

He stalked forward, grabbed Mecha by the arm and jerked him up. "On your feet, coward. I should knock your face in, but I have something better in mind." He dragged Mecha over to where Shadow still lay, blood staining his belly. Mecha noted in a detached sort of way that Shadow's wounds were already half-healed. Those nanites certainly worked fast.

"Before I put out your eyes," said Robo Knux, "I want to make sure you see Mekion die. Then, in the few minutes left of your life, you will remember that your cowardice caused the death of the ultimate lifeform."

Mecha wasn't submitting because he was a coward. He was submitting because there was no point in fighting. Because the resolve to fight inside of him was still broken. But Shadow was still alive, still loyal to the last. The black hedgehog opened his eyes and looked up at him, pleading silently for more time.

Sonic was down, Knuckles was down, Tails was down. There was no one left to intervene but Mecha. And he couldn't lose Shadow the way he had lost Aleda. Shadow was too important to him. Shadow was one of his weaknesses.

Mecha turned his eyes on his enemy. "Robo Knux," he said quietly. His enemy looked at him, green eyes burning. Mecha drew back his free arm, the biometal liquefying into a murky glistening quicksilver, and struck Robo Knux in the face.

The liquid metal fused into the contours of Robo Knux's head, and Mecha spun and smashed him into the marble floor, hearing the glass in Robo Knux's eyes crack.

Mecha released Robo Knux's head and stepped back, his arm resuming its original shape. Robo Knux scrambled to his feet. "So, you changed your mind, eh coward? How did you do that?"

Mecha shrugged. He stood still, hands at his sides, an easy target. Robo Knux lunged and double-slashed Mecha through the head in a cross-cross motion. His claws, instead of encountering a solid object, splashed through a melting lump of liquid metal that widened into a pool on the floor. Robo Knux found he was standing in it, and stepped back in revulsion. But the puddle moved with him, encircling his feet like a snare. Suddenly it jerked his feet out from under him. As he fell, the puddle heaped together in a growing mound of quicksilver until it formed into Mecha again, wearing a grim expression.

One of his hands remained liquid, and this liquid engulfed Robo Knux's feet. Robo Knux looked up at Mecha. "Very good, coward! But you still haven't fought me toe to toe."

"That can be arranged," said Mecha. He twisted and hurled Robo Knux across the cavern the way he had hurled the rock at the jacaida, and Robo Knux crashed into the cave wall.

As Robo Knux reeled to his feet, half-stunned and with his internal gyro wobbling, Mecha stalked across the cave toward him. As he passed Sonic, he saw Sonic raise his head and blink at the scene before him. Mecha winked at him and kept walking. It was a mild surprise to him that Robo Knux was not as heavy as he had expected. He remembered how easily he had lifted Sonic into the helicopter, and wondered why he had not tested his rebuilt body in combat situations. He had wanted speed, yes, and with speed came strength ... but how much?

Robo Knux raised his claws. "Toe to toe, coward. No liquid-metal this time."

"Perhaps," said Mecha.

Robo Knux jabbed like lightning, and Mecha dodged. They circled, two partners in a deadly dance, then Robo Knux charged. Mecha struck Robo Knux in the eye and jumped aside, avoiding the deadly claws. It was so different from his dream! In his dream he had been weak and powerless, and Robo Knux had been strong beyond belief. But in reality, the field was level; both were strong, both were adept at fighting, and both had taken damage.

Their fight accelerated. Mecha ducked, jumped, blocked and parried, those deadly diamond-tipped claws slicing within a fraction of an inch of his vitals. Robo Knux fought with the devastating speed that had felled Shadow, but Mecha found it pleasing, a mild challenge and nothing more. Sonic and Shadow were both faster. Faster reflexes, faster footwork, faster thinking. Robo Knux, for all of his speed, did not have the lightspeed reflexes of an organism. Mecha wondered how he had let this inferior creature terrorize him and destroy Aleda.

Aleda! The thought of her lent fury to his blows and increased his speed. Robo Knux the cruel, the heartless, the ruthless-he would pay for Aleda's life with his own. But then, Robo Knux wasn't alive, was he? Robo Knux could be rebuilt, but Aleda was lost forever. There would never be another chao like her. Mecha fought with his fists, his feet, and killer metal-edged spindashes, watching Robo Knux's arms dent, his jets begin to smoke, his engines begin to whine. It was a pity Robo Knux could not feel pain.

Robo Knux gave ground, backing up. He was outclassed and he knew it. He retreated to the wall of the cave, which he used to protect his back. Mecha followed him, breathing heavily, knowing that each breath recharged his muscles. "Am I still a coward?" he said softly.

"Yes," spat Robo Knux, his eyes flickering and damaged. "You will always be a coward to me, I don't care how well you fight."

"A compliment," said Mecha. "You think I fight well. It seems I've beaten some manners into your head."

"I'll beat some dents into yours," said Robo Knux. "Come on and fight!"

Mecha stood where he was and regarded his enemy. "No," he said. "I was going to destroy you, but then it occurred to me that your existence is as miserable as mine was. You have nothing to live for except your next battle, and when you are finally beaten, what is left?"

"Cut out the psychology," Robo Knux roared. "I bought this fight with blood!"

"Yes, you did," said Mecha, staring at him. "You want me to destroy you, don't you? You want me to end your misery in a glorious battle in which you harm me as much as possible."

Robo Knux didn't answer for once. He simply stared.

"In which case," said Mecha, half-closing his eyes, "I will let you go free with the knowledge that you were defeated. As I discovered, that is a fate far worse than death."

"You-you're sadistic!" Robo Knux exclaimed.

"No," said Mecha. "If I were sadistic, I would enjoy this."

"You don't?"

"No," said Mecha. "I pity you."

Robo Knux drew himself upright in fury. "Pity? I don't need your pity! I don't need your kindness, either! You're too weak to destroy me, and you're hiding behind your words!"

"On the contrary," said Mecha, his voice still softer, "if I were weak, I would have destroyed you already."

There was a long silence. The robot and the android stared at each other. Then Robo Knux said, "Letting me go is a mistake. I will receive repairs and hunt you down, no matter where you are. And I'll destroy everyone you are pathetic enough to care for."

"Go ahead," said Mecha. "I'll be waiting, and next time, I will not let you walk free."

Robo Knux strode past Mecha and across Hidden Palace. Mecha followed him to make sure he caused no further mischief, but Robo Knux went straight to the teleporter. Mecha followed him through the teleporter to the island's surface, where it was midnight and lit only by the crescent moon. Without a word Robo Knux ignited his engines and flew off westward, back toward the mainland. Mecha watched him on radar to make sure he did not circle back, then returned to the teleporter.

He paused beside it and sank down to sit on the edge of the stand. Mecha was exhausted, for his mind was tired and his body had reached its limits. Heavy-duty recharging was in order, the kind that came with sleep.

He rested his face in his hands. He had just done to Robo Knux what Sonic had done to him, perhaps for the same reasons. But it had cost him Aleda, poor Aleda. He tried to be philosophical about her death; she had been a valuable learning experience, and she had taught him many things that he did not know about chao.

But his feelings got in the way. Gone was the tiny creature who had never feared him, who had loved him despite his horrible attitude and actions. She had drawn out the good in him, and he had let her down. He could have stopped Robo Knux, he saw that now; but he had been too ignorant, blinded by self-pity and fear. But Aleda should not have had to pay the price for Mecha's stupidity. It wasn't her fault.

He realized that tears were running through his fingers, but he didn't care. They vented an emotion more powerful and devastating than anger-grief and sorrow-and besides, there was no one to see him this time. He was alone on an utterly uninhabited island.

So Mecha cried alone in the darkness, with no one to see him but the moon. He cried for his chao, and for Robo Knux's misery that Mecha knew so well, and for his useless hatred of Sonic that he couldn't seem to stop, and for himself; a wretched android-thing, lost somewhere between machine and life, able to sink so easily into despair. He had no hope, even now. No hope of anything better, or of transcending his boundaries. He was a failure, and all of his cleverness could not keep him from this hopeless mire of despair.

His tears subsided, but still he sat there, indescribably weary, unable to rise and step onto the teleporter. The moon began to slip toward the west, and he knew he must have been out here for two or three hours. He didn't check the time because he didn't care. There was nothing for him back down in Hidden Palace. Only semi-enemies who he could not let be his friends, because he had spent so many years hating them and trying to kill them.

The teleporter to his back fired up, illuminating the grass and trees for a hundred yards in all directions. Mecha sat there without moving or looking up. He could tell by the person's footsteps that it was Sonic. Just the hedgehog Mecha didn't want to see.

"Hi Mecha," said Sonic softly, walking up beside him.

Mecha didn't respond.

"Um, mind if I sit down?"

Mecha shrugged, and Sonic sat down beside him on the teleporter stand. There was a moment of silence. Mecha said hoarsely, "What are you doing out here?"

"I came to check on you," said Sonic. "We were worried when you didn't come back."

Mecha opened his mouth to cut Sonic down to size for this, and found he had no words. Sonic had been concerned about him. Why should Sonic care? Mecha felt the old hatred flicker to life. No, not now. Why couldn't he control himself?

When Mecha remained silent, Sonic said, "Shadow's gonna be okay. He and I got our Chaos Emeralds and teleported back to East Mobius. Kind of a long way, but we combined power and made it." He paused to let Mecha say something, and when Mecha did not, Sonic went on, "So I picked up Zephyer and left Rouge and Nack. Rouge and Nack weren't real happy about that. Nack's wanted for a bunch of crimes, and the police were all over him."

The corner of Mecha's mouth curled in the ghost of a smile.

"Turns out that Nox teleported back with us when Tails did the sphere thing," Sonic continued. "Shadow was awfully glad he was all right."

Mecha turned his head away from Sonic as more tears flooded his eyes. Curse these emotions-always catching him off guard.

Sonic went on, relentless. "Shadow brought Aleda during the teleport, too. Here she is."

Mecha spun to face Sonic, realizing he had not looked at the hedgehog once. Sonic's spines drooped with weariness, and a large ugly bloodstain marred the creamy fur on his chest and neck. In his arms was Aleda, eyes closed now, her face still blank and empty. The sight of her drew even more tears to the surface. Mecha lifted her from Sonic's arms and whispered brokenly, "Why did you do this? Did you really want to see me weep again?"

"No," said Sonic, averting his eyes. "Sorry, Mecha. But I had to bring her to you. She's yours."

"She is dead," said Mecha, struggling to control himself. No tears before the hedgehog.

"Yeah," said Sonic, "we all thought she was. But Nox knew she wasn't. He kept telling us she was alive, and we kept ignoring him. He finally threw a ring-eyed fit to get our attention."

Sonic's words fell on Mecha's ears and took a long time to reach his brain. Mecha had noticed that Aleda's body was warm, and she was not stiff the way dead creatures usually were.

Sonic pattered on, "If RK had clawed her, she would have died. But he only hit her in the head. Chao as young as her don't have hardened bones yet, and even though it knocked her out, the cartilage just popped back into place after a while. But she has a big bruise, see?"

Mecha saw the bruise and ran his fingers over Aleda's head. She was breathing. She was warm and alive. He had nearly lost her, but by almost a miracle she had returned to him. The joy that flooded him was just as overwhelming as his grief had been-perhaps moreso. Mecha set her head on his shoulder and stroked her, eyes tightly shut to hold back the tears. He wanted to laugh and cry and dance and shout, but he had his dignity to think of, and only sat there in silence, holding his sleeping chao and wishing Sonic would go away.

After a while Sonic said, "I wanted to thank you, too."

Mecha's throat was so tight he could barely whisper, "Why?" If he opened his mouth he was going to lose control. He silently cursed himself, but his feelings refused to listen to reason.

Sonic folded his hands and looked at them. "For everything you did out there in the desert. And for, you know, helping me get into the helicopter and stuff. You were really cool."

Curse Sonic for his kind words. They hurt Mecha deeply, right at the root of his hatred. "Please, don't say such things," hissed Mecha through clenched teeth. "My actions were calculated to ensure the survival of the entire group. It had nothing to do with you." Control was slipping-tears were running down his face. He hoped it was too dark for Sonic to see them.

"I was part of the group," said Sonic. "You kept me alive. So, you know, I kind of ... owe you one."

Mecha leaped to his feet and strode away into the darkness, the tears hitting fast and hard. He stopped twenty feet away, stood and sobbed, shoulders shaking, clutching Aleda like a lifeline. Curse Sonic for trying to mend their enmity! Mecha was reacting with grief instead of anger, which was progress of a sort, but it was far more humiliating.

As his self-control began to return and he gulped his sobs, he heard Sonic approaching, slowly and hesitantly. Mecha turned to face him, his vision blurred.

"Don't cry," said Sonic. "It makes me feel worse than I do already."

"Why should it affect you?" said Mecha thickly. "I was the one created to destroy you, not the other way around. And you are showing me kindness! Please, scream at me or accuse me or condemn me. I could stand that. But stop being kind."

Sonic looked at him, ears flattening. "Aw Mecha, can't you just deprogram hating me? I'd rather we were on the same side."

"Stop it!" snarled Mecha, clenching a fist. "I hate you. I've always hated you. You can't change that, no matter how kind you are!"

He turned his back, but Sonic's next words stopped him cold. "Lighten up, Mecha. You're not a robot anymore."

Slowly Mecha turned to look at Sonic. "I'm not a robot?" he said. "What makes you say that?"

"Robots don't cry," said Sonic. "They can't use chaos fields, either. And chao don't bond with robots. There's nothing inside a robot for a chao to bond with."

Mecha raised his free hand and spread his fingers. "Look at me, hedgehog. My skin is metal. My eyes are red diodes surrounding photo-optic cells. My heart is a nanotech-based duel-chamber pump. My brain is made of nanites. Machines. I am a robot comprised of robots." He spoke this with a certain measure of pride. A robot, yes, but the most advanced robot in history.

Sonic looked him in the eye. "I'm made of cells that work like machines. I may be made of different stuff chemically, but we both burn fuel and we both bleed."

"Your ignorance of biology is amusing," said Mecha. He was in control again. Debating and arguing was his favorite pastime.

Sonic drew a breath, remembering the point he was making. "What I was saying is that a person is more than the sum of his parts. If I was robotized, my mind would still be Sonic, even if the rest of me was metal. You're a person beyond what your body is made of. It's like you have a soul or something."

"Do not go into metaphysics," said Mecha. "I can argue rings around you in that topic. I can prove that souls exist, and I can prove that they do not exist just as easily."

"So are you a robot or not?" said Sonic, folding his arms.

Mecha opened his mouth and stopped. He didn't know anymore. He backpedaled. "I am not alive in the biological sense."

"Yeah you are," said Sonic. "Tails told me that a lifeform has to do three things in order to be scientifically alive. One, breathe. Two, eat. Three, reproduce."

Mecha sneered. "By your own admission I am two-thirds alive."

"Don't be such a nitwit," said Sonic, frowning. "If you can build things, isn't that a type of reproduction?"

"By that reasoning, Mekion is my son." said Mecha.

"Yeah," said Sonic. "That's how you treat him, isn't it?"

Mecha blinked. That was the third time in this conversation that Sonic had thrown him a mental curveball. He did treat Shadow like a son ... sometimes ... when he wasn't treating him like a slave.

"This is one reason why I hate you," he told Sonic. "Your arguments are so twisted I cannot make sense of them."

"Thank you," Sonic grinned. "We must be getting somewhere. I didn't even get into design copyrights."

"What would you know about design copyrights?" said Mecha, rolling his eyes.

"Plenty," said Sonic. "You've been copying the organic body with robot parts so you can be alive, right? Well, what if the guy who designed the original organic body doesn't like you copying his work?"

Mecha was silent for a long moment. This had never occurred to him. The organic body was so much more complex and intricate than his own that of course it must have had a designer. A Master Designer who outclassed every inventor Mecha had ever seen. He was also fully aware that inventors did not like other people copying their work without permission. Were willing to hunt down and hamstring thieves, in fact. He looked down at himself and thought of the years of research he had put into unlocking the secrets of organic life, and suddenly he was in awe and afraid ... the Master Designer would not be happy about Mecha's research at all, if he was anything like other designers.

Mecha closed down that avenue of thinking-it was too big for him to think about in his current drained state. He shook his head. "No Master Designer has yet contacted me about copyright fraud. I will concern myself with it later."

"Then let's go back to Hidden Palace," said Sonic. "Like I said, we were worried about you."

"Pointlessly so," said Mecha, striding back to the teleporter. "I am capable of handling myself."

They beamed down to Hidden Palace, which was ringing with talking voices. Before hunting for Mecha, Sonic had awakened Tails from his trance, and the fox was chattering to Knuckles about how he could use the thrall spheres. Knuckles was sitting on the Master Emerald dais, trying to listen, while Zephyer examined his leg. Shadow stood back in a dim corner, holding Nox, who was telling him about when Robo Knux had broken into the helicopter.

Mecha walked through the cavern to Shadow and Nox, who looked up as he approached. "It is high time we departed," he told Shadow. "I am at the end of my strength, you are injured, and Aleda is injured."

"Yes Mecha," said Shadow, picking up his orange chaos emerald from the floor. Without a word to anyone else, the two androids teleported away in a flash of light.


	14. Chapter 14

Zephyer and Rouge hadn't seen much of the battle, for their helicopter had been far in the lead and was not affected by any spherical resonance. The first they knew of any trouble was when Shadow's head snapped up, and without a word he ran to the side door, slid it open and leaped out.

Zephyer gasped and ran to the door, looking out. Shadow hit a hillside in a spin, bounced like a superball, landed on his feet and raced away.

"There must be trouble," breathed Rouge. They looked out the door for several minutes, but could see nothing but the blackened waste and billowing fumes, so they returned to their seats.

Zephyer had not minded sharing a helicopter with Rouge as long as Shadow was there. Rouge was distracted by him and ignored Zephyer. Zephyer thought it was funny to see Rouge make advances to an oblivious Shadow; he hardly even looked at her. This made Rouge all the more determined to attract his attention. But now Shadow was gone, and there was nothing to keep Rouge from nitpicking at Zephyer. The echidna clenched her fists in her lap. It was only a matter of time.

For a while Rouge was silent, lost in her own thoughts. Then she looked at Zephyer. Her eyes half-closed and she looked scornful and sarcastic at the same time, but she said nothing. She stared at Zephyer until Zephyer began to squirm, telling herself not to rise-Rouge was trying to get a reaction so she could tear Zephyer down-but after ten minutes Zephyer couldn't stand it anymore. "What?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing," said Rouge, leaning back against the wall and smiling. "Just wondering how a homely little girl like you managed to land the Guardian of the Floating Island."

Zephyer tried to control her temper, and counted to ten before speaking. "I didn't. He pursued me."

"Oh, you must have done something," said Rouge. "You don't win hot guys by sitting around ignoring them."

"You'd know, wouldn't you?" said Zephyer through her teeth.

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "I really am curious. Tell me how you managed it."

Zephyer looked at the floor and refused to answer. She wasn't about to tell Rouge the details of her and Knuckles's rocky courtship.

Rouge was determined to dig it out of her. "He certainly didn't marry you for your looks. Look at you. Too thin, plain face, no figure to speak of. The hair is nice, but that's all."

Zephyer bristled. "A few guys out there notice personality, too."

"What makes yours so special?" drawled Rouge. "You're nasty and angry all the time. Maybe that's why-you're just like him."

"You don't know either of us very well, do you?" said Zephyer. Her face was burning, and she wanted to hit Rouge in the face, very hard.

"What's to know?" said Rouge. "I want to know what I did wrong. Here am I, great body, groomed to the nth, professional guy chaser, and he chooses you over me."

"Something you wouldn't know anything about," said Zephyer. "It's called love."

"Or merely bad judgement," said Rouge, fanning herself with her wings. "You'd been chasing him a long time before I came along, hadn't you?"

"No," said Zephyer. "He chased me and I ran from him. That's what I did different."

"Ah, the hunter and the hunted," said Rouge, nodding. "Some males are like that. The faster you run, the hotter their pursuit." She smirked at Zephyer. "I suppose that's the only thing I hadn't tried. But I don't run very well, dearie. I'd rather do the hunting."

"Good luck with Shadow," said Zephyer, allowing herself a scornful smile. "Looks like he's real interested in you."

"Ah, Shadow, the mystery man," said Rouge, not at all ruffled by the turn of conversation. "He intrigues me, this hedgehog in the iron mask. I'm trying to learn if there's room in his heart for anyone beside his master and his chao."

"If there is, I doubt it's you," said Zephyer. "He's so withdrawn I don't think he knows you exist."

"Who knows?" said Rouge. "He's a challenge. As much of a challenge as your little hubby."

"You stay away from him," said Zephyer softly.

Rouge laughed. "I don't date married men, dearie. Too many legal entanglements. Now, if you had an unfortunate accident and he came up for grabs, it might be a possibility."

"Is that a threat?" snarled Zephyer.

Rouge grinned. "Is it? Don't underestimate me, dearie. This attempt to ruin your life didn't work the way I'd planned, but it won't stop me from trying again. Hell hath no fury, you know."

"Get a life," said Zephyer. "Go marry one of those bats in these helicopters. They were falling over themselves to help you in here."

"They were?" said Rouge lazily. "I didn't notice."

The helicopter's engine pitch changed, and they began to descend. "Looks like we're here," said Rouge. "How lovely. Pity Nack got picked up. He'd have been better off out in the desert."

When Zephyer said nothing, Rouge added, "Nack assassinated the last governor of Tukoto to make some money. On his way out of the country, he robbed a bank and carried off more than two million septa in gold. I'd say his reception in Tukoto won't be exactly warm."

"Aren't you worried about him?" asked Zephyer. "He was your partner."

Rouge gave her a condescending look. "You don't think I ever meant to pay him, do you? The original plan was that you and your hubby would handle him while I escaped with the goods. But turning him over to the police works just as well."

The helicopter touched down with a bump, and the engines idled. Rouge stood up and stretched. Zephyer rose, too. "Aren't you afraid they'll arrest you?"

"Me?" Rouge batted her eyelashes. "My father is the wealthiest bat in East Mobius. They'll treat me like royalty."

The pilots slid the side door open and helped the girls deplane, paying special attention to Rouge. Zephyer stepped onto the tarmac, hating Rouge and everything about her. She followed the bats off the landing pad and toward the terminal buildings nearby, then stopped, turning her head. She felt a swell of chaos energy.

There was a flash of light, and Sonic and Shadow appeared ten feet away, arms linked and holding the orange and green Chaos Emeralds in their free hands. As soon as they touched down they released their hold and straightened, blinking and looking bewildered. Shadow pressed a hand to his stomach, gritting his teeth in pain, and Zephyer hurried up to them. "What're you guys doing here? Where'd you get Chaos Emeralds?"

Sonic shook his head to clear it. "We got warped to Hidden Palace in some kind of ... anomaly. RK thrashed Mecha, then Mecha thrashed RK. Shads and I came back to pick you up."

"How did Mecha do that?" asked Zephyer, staring.

Sonic looked grim. "RK busted Aleda in the head. Now let's get out of here before Rouge tries to stop us." Sonic took one of Zephyer's arms and Shadow took the other, and they simultaneously raised their emeralds and said, "Chaos relocate!"

Zephyer had used lots of teleporters, and was familiar with the blinding light, the second of floating, and abruptly finding her surroundings had changed. But she had never been in a teleport halfway around the world, and found it like travelling down an unexpectedly long drop in a rollercoaster. She felt the floating sensation and expected it to end, but it continued for second after second and she began to panic. It was too long! This wasn't right!

Then they touched down, and she gasped air into her petrified lungs. On either side, Sonic and Shadow were shaking their heads and swaying, trying to keep from falling over. The teleport, even with two Chaos Emeralds, was extremely draining.

Hidden Palace! Zephyer looked around with a warm sense of homecoming. The floor was scuffed and covered in shattered crystal, each fragment glowing blue. As she looked at each emerald and thrall sphere, the color returned to them as if her presence had returned vitality to the island.

Standing beside the Master Emerald, leaning on a crutch, was Knuckles. He was looking at her with unabashed love and tenderness, as if she was the only other person in the world. Oh, he was hurt! She had almost forgotten about that! She ran to him with a cry, but hesitated about hugging him, looking at his crutch and the bandage around his leg.

He grabbed her in a one-armed hug that nearly cracked her ribs. "Don't you ever leave me again," he whispered in her ear.

She clung to him, so glad to be in his arms again, so glad he was alive, so glad she was home. She was choking up. "You shouldn't be standing on that leg," she told him, helping him to sit on the dais

He snorted. "You women! It's not that bad. You get back from who knows where, and the first thing you do is nag me about my leg."

"I'm sorry, Knux," she said. "I had to get all the nagging out of the way, since I didn't think I'd ever get to do it again."

He set his crutch down and put both arms around her, touching her nose with his. "I'm serious," he murmured. "Don't ever leave me like that again."

Then they kissed for a long time.

* * *

Aleda  
awoke in pitch darkness. Not that she minded-she had hatched in near   
darkness, and it held no terrors for her. Her head hurt a lot. It made   
her eyes water, but there was something cold on the sore place on her   
head. She touched it-an ice pack. She pushed it off, and the throbbing   
in her head intensified.

She sat up, reaching out with her paws to figure out where she was. She was sitting on a soft surface, and beside her-ahh, beside her was the smooth, pliable metal skin of her red-eyes. She felt around and discovered that she was cradled between his arm and his side, and he was fast asleep, his breathing slow and even. Usually he lay on his cot with his eyes open, casting a faint light so she could see. It was like a nightlight, and she missed it.

Her head hurt worse and worse with every passing moment. She found the ice pack and put it back on her head, whimpering softly. She snuggled against Mecha's side for comfort, and lay there, wondering why she hurt so much and feeling hungry.

Above her, Mecha stirred and one of his hands came down and stroked her gently. She purred and looked up at him-his eyes were lit, looking down at her. He rolled on his side to face her and whispered, "You are awake. With a concussion as severe as yours, you should not have ever awakened."

She whimpered and touched her head, and he positioned the ice pack over her bruise. He rested his head on his arm and stroked her gently, soothing her and distracting her from her pain. "Your body mass is too small for me to risk giving you pain medication," he whispered. "Your best method of handling it is to sleep again, if possible."

But now that Aleda was awake, she couldn't sit still. She was hungry, and told Mecha so by whining and pointing to her mouth. He heaved a sigh, rose and carried her out of the room.

He took her to the storage room where their food was kept, and looked at the barren shelves. Tomorrow he was going to let Shadow install the carbon-based fuel system to allow Mecha to consume organic foods, and it occurred to Mecha that he might want something other than cold rations. Aleda might benefit from a more varied diet, as well.

As he opened a can of liquid nutri-rations and spooned them into her mouth, he reflected that Aleda, too, was a triumph of the Master Designer's. An organism that could adapt to any environment or person, with adaptations so extreme that it often meant altering the entire cell structure. Had only one person constructed all the lifeforms, or had there been several designers at work?

He pondered, comparing information on various creatures in his databanks. No, there must be only one designer, because he used the same design over and over. In mammals, all of them had similar skeletal structures, and the basics such as a spine and four limbs. Insects also followed a certain blueprint, diverse though they were.

So there must be a single designer, the Master Designer. And he probably held the copyright on all living things in this world. The idea made Mecha's insides crawl with fear, because a being so powerful as a Master Designer could probably give punishment beyond anything Mecha could conceive. But Mecha couldn't go back to being a mindless robot. He had come too far. Perhaps ... perhaps he could find this Designer, inform him that Mecha had violated his copyright, then explain why. Maybe the Designer could help Mecha complete his upgrades. Or he might destroy Mecha, as he deserved.

Not that Mecha cared much, really. He had been staring death in the face so long now that it was a familiar friend. If the Designer decided to destroy him, well, it was nothing Robo Knux couldn't have done. But if the Designer decided to help him, it was worth the risk of punishment, wasn't it?

Mecha fed Aleda and smiled to himself. It was nice to think about something other than despair for a change.

* * *

Mecha's  
network chip was still burned out, and he could not hear Shadow or   
detect his vital signs. Which was fine with Shadow. He lay on the other   
cot and watched Mecha baby Aleda, then rise and carry her from the room.  
Nox was curled up beside Shadow's head, fast asleep. No one knew that   
Shadow was speaking to Tails through the fox's thrall sphere.

"Yes, all is well with us," Shadow said through Mekion's network link. "Aleda just awoke, and she seems to be acting normally. How goes with you?"

"Pretty good," said Tails's singsong voice, echoing the network's note. "Sonic and I came home today, and Sally was so glad to see us that Sonic said he should have proposed on the spot." He laughed and drifted off the thrall sphere's note. A moment later he was back. "I can't wait to try this sphere on the Cyclone. It's like I can talk to machines!"

"You must be wary of contacting me again after this," said Shadow. "Mecha will have his chip repaired, and he was serious about killing you for spying on us."

"I know, I know. Do you think he'd mind if I kept an eye on Robo Knux, though? Sonic told me that he's gonna hunt you down."

"He has always been a threat to us, and always will be," Shadow replied. "Watch him if you like, but keep in mind that we, too, are watching him."

"Yeah ..." Tails was silent a moment, then said, "I guess that's all. Oh yeah, Knux and Zeff decided not to try the portal thing until they learn more about it. So they won't be calling you about that."

"Good," said Shadow. "There are too many variables that could go wrong."

"Yeah. So, I guess I'll see you later."

"Goodbye."

The network fell silent. Shadow shifted positions, curling into a spiny ball. He had not slept in over forty-eight hours, and it was time to get caught up while he had the chance.

The End


End file.
